CASE REPORT - ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT IN CLUSTER HEADACHE
Jihe Zhu*, Blagica Arsovska, Kristina Kozovska and Julijana Velkovska
ABSTRACT
Cluster headache is a primary headache disorder that belongs to the trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, affecting up to 0.1% of the population. Cluster headache has been historically considered to have a male dominance, with a high male-to-female ratio. Cluster periods or known as bouts of frequent attacks, can last from a few weeks to a few months followed by remission periods when the headaches stop. During the day the headache lasts from 15 to 180 minutes and can be repeated up to 8 times. For thousands of years, acupuncture and TCM have been used to relieve headaches and migraines, as well as their underlying causes. The aim of the treatment with acupuncture is providing pain relief by stimulating nerves, reducing inflammation, affecting serotonin level in the brain, balancing extra-cranial and intracranial blood flow. In this article is presented a case of 36 years old man with chronic headache that has been present for about 15 years. The patient has made 30 acupuncture treatments in a period of one and a half year. Before starting the treatments, the patient tried different medicines like analgesics and decongestants because his nose has been blocked very often. During the treatment he started to feel better and he started reducing the tablets little by little with consultation with doctor. Acupuncture is the primary form of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and a number of clinical researches have indicated that acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment to prevent and treat cluster headache.
Keywords: Cluster, headache, acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine.
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