Are You Ready to Thrive?

This week is National Headache Awareness Week.  Acupuncture can be used to both ease the pain of a current headache as well as prevent future headaches.

It doesn't matter what type of headache you experience, either.  Be it your run of the mill headache, tension headaches, migraines or cluster headaches.  They can be related to stress or hormones.  No matter the cause or type of headache, Chinese medicine has a way of getting them out of your life!

Below are some acupressure points that you can massage in order to ease your headache.  For best results, find a licensed acupuncturist who you can work with to determine your Chinese medical diagnosis and get to the bottom of your pain.

Large Intestine 4 (LI4) is a point that strongly moves Qi in the body.  This point can also be used to specifically treat disorders of the head - perfect for headaches!  Do not massage this point if you are pregnant.

Du 20 is a great point for treating many disorders of the head, based on its location.  This point will be especially effective if your headache is near the acupuncture point!

Heart 7 (Ht7), as well as all of the rest of the points along the crease-lines of your wrist, are great for treating headaches that are located in the base of your neck.  There are several acupuncture micro-systems that portray the hand as your head, with the wrist crease representing the back of the neck where it meets your head.

If your headaches are located at your temples, massage them!  Tai Yang is an acupuncture point located in your temples!

And, like massaging your temples, feel free to massage the areas where you experience pain.  We have many many acupuncture points on our heads, (which would make for a very long blog post!) so chances are you'll be massaging one or more!

Portland is one of the pet-friendliest cities in the US and Spot Magazine's Top Dog Competition helps highlight Portland's best pet-friendly businesses!  The competition is by popular vote, one vote per person, please.

You can do your part to help - vote Thrive Acupuncture as one of Portland's Top Dogs!

It's pretty easy, here's what you do:

• Go to http://www.spotmagazine.net/top-dog-voting-form/
• Enter "Thrive Acupuncture" in the "Holistic Wellness Practitioner" category
• Enter your other favorite businesses under the appropriate categories
• Click "submit"
• Tell everyone you know to do the same!

Thanks for showing Portland that there is more to living than just surviving!