[caption id="attachment_2952" align="alignright" width="433"] Find relief from hormonal / menstrual migraines with acupuncture and herbal medicine[/caption] Do you notice that your migraine headaches occur at the same point in your menstrual cycle every month? If so, acupuncture and herbal medicine can support your hormonal transitions so you can find relief! At Inspire Family Acupuncture we work with girls and women ages nine and up who are having hormonal migraines. Typically they occur about once a month and often start shortly before each period.

What are the impacts of menstrual migraines?

These menstrual / hormonal migraines can be devastating for women. Impacts include:

• Days worth of pain
• Related nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and light sensitivity
• Days missed from school and work
• Frequent intake of pharmaceutical medications

If you suffer from hormonal migraines there are other options!

Acupuncture is a non-invasive support for hormonal migraines. It helps to smooth hormonal transitions during the weeks of the cycle while also decreasing stress (another contributor to migraines). Acupuncture can be used to improve sleep which is often another factor in the severity and frequency of migraines. When you come in for acupuncture treatment you'll typically receive between 8-20 acupuncture needles at specific points in the body which regulate sex hormones. Your practitioner may also select acupuncture points that are used for calming, decreasing stress, improving sleep, and decreasing menstrual pain if appropriate. Typically it takes a few months of weekly treatments to achieve sustained improvement in menstrual / hormonal migraines. Women often have a decrease in severity and/or duration of the migraine with their first cycle after treatment and after a few cycles will have significant reduction of migraines.

What about herbal medicine?

Along with acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine can support hormonal balance. Your practitioner can create a customized formula that will help not only improve hormonal balance but also address other issues such as sleep, mood, stress, digestion, energy, and more. The herbal medicine serves to continue and strengthen the effects of the acupuncture n between treatments.

What are the risks?

Acupuncture and herbal medicine are relatively low risk forms of health care. Risks of acupuncture are not common but can include light soreness or minor bleeding/bruising at the location of needle insertion. Risks of Chinese herbal medicine, if provided by a well trained practitioner, are low and typically would be something like minor digestive impacts.

How do I get started?

It's as simple as calling Inspire Family Acupuncture for a free consultation to see if acupuncture and/or herbal medicine is a good fit for you or your child. Here's to your family's health!