Acupuncture is one of the oldest medical techniques in the world, practiced in China for over 2,000 years.  It is a FDA-approved treatment modality for a number of illnesses, especially pain management and chronic pain, and is particularly effective in treating migraines.

Acupuncture is a Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment that involves stimulating some of the over 800 vital energy points in the human body with fine, hair-thin needles to release chi and encourage the body to heal itself.  The vital energy points are on the meridians that run through the body from head to toe.

Chi (pronounced chee), or life energy, flows through these meridians and energy points.
The obstruction of the flow of chi leads to illness and is considered the source of many bodily aches and pains.  The flow of chi along the meridians can be obstructed by illness, poor diet, the weather, and other outside factors.

Most acupuncture practitioners work with patients to form a treatment plan that addresses both the blockages themselves and the things that cause them.  These treatment plans, like those of Western Medicine, often include diet and lifestyle changes to enhance the patients’ well-being.

Migraineurs (people who suffer from migraine headaches) need to tell their acupuncturist exactly where they hurt when seeing one for pain mitigation.  The location of pain is important due to the large number of acupuncture points in the head, face, and neck.  Where to apply pressure depends on where the migraine pain is most acute.

Migraineurs can find long-term relief from their migraines by working with an acupuncturist who specializes in headaches.  These specialists do an individualized assessment of the patient to create a long-term treatment plan.  Many people who undergo an acupuncture program like this experience relief from migraines for years afterward.  For some the headaches stop completely.

Anyone who has ever had a migraine will say they do not just happen in the head. The headache is usually the worst and most painful part of a migraine, but there’s more.  Most migraineurs (people who suffer from migraines) will talk about photosensitivity (sensitivity to light), phonosensitivity (sensitivity to sound), scent sensitivity, gastric pain, cramping, and vomiting.

Sometimes the abdominal symptoms show up without the other typical migraine symptoms.  When they do, a patient is said to be experiencing an abdominal migraine.  An abdominal migraine is pain, usually varying from mild to medium, in the abdomen.  The pain is either along the midline or unspecified and is frequently accompanied by abdominal tenderness, cramp-like spasms, bloating, vomiting, and loss of appetite.

Since abdomen pain can be caused by a wide variety of conditions other causes need to be ruled out before a diagnosis can be made.  In a classic abdominal migraine, no gastric cause for the pain can be identified.  Migraineurs need to let their doctors know about their migraines when they experience unspecified abdominal pain so that the doctor knows abdominal migraine may be a possibility.

Abdominal migraines are most common in children.  Children who experience abdominal migraines frequently grow up to be migraineurs.  While abdominal migraine is not unheard of in adults, it is rare.  Like most other types of migraine, it is also more common in females than in males.

While the exact cause of abdominal migraines is unknown, it is highly likely to be related to serotonin deficiency.  Serotonin deficiency has been linked in several studies to migraines, and 90% of the body’s serotonin is produced in the gastric system.  Serotonin deficiency causes cascading waves of nerve reaction in the brain when triggering a migraine and a similar process may be in effect in the abdomen.