Headache — parietal

Star

Textbook Prescriptions Headache and Dizziness

Essentials of Chinese Acupuncture (Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing Colleges of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1980) — the standard prescriptions of the Chinese colleges.

Points

GV20 Baihui midline

Governing Vessel point at the vertex; local point for parietal pain
SI3 Houxi bilateral

Shu-Stream of the Small Intestine; distal Hand-Taiyang point
BL67 Zhiyin bilateral

Jing-Well of the Bladder; distal Foot-Taiyang point
- Pregnancy: contraindicated
LV3 Taichong bilateral

Yuan-Source of the Liver; distal Foot-Jueyin point, whose channel reaches the vertex

Needling Safety

Cited hazards for these points. Tick what applies to the patient to see the cautions that follow from it.

Treatment Principle

Dispel wind, open the channels and regulate qi and blood with a vertex point and distal Taiyang and Jueyin points.

Indications

Pain at the top of the head (Liver channel, Foot-Jueyin)excess type: violent boring pain with dizziness, irritability, bitter taste, nausea, chest oppression, hypochondriac pain, sticky tongue coating, wiry pulsedeficient type: dull pain brought on by strain, eased by warmth and pressure, with fatigue, palpitations, poor sleep, pale tongue, weak pulse

Method

Reducing method for the excess (liver yang) type; reinforcing method, or tapping with a cutaneous needle, for the deficient (qi and blood) type.

⚠ Cautions

A sudden severe ('worst ever') headache, headache with fever and neck stiffness, neurological signs, a new headache after age 50, or headache after head injury needs urgent medical assessment before acupuncture. BL67 is contraindicated in pregnancy.

About

The textbook's prescription for headache at the vertex, which it links to the Liver channel (Foot-Jueyin).

Rationale

GV20 treats the vertex directly. The book draws the distal points from the Hand- and Foot-Taiyang channels (SI3, BL67) and adds LV3 from the Foot-Jueyin channel, which ascends to the crown, so that local and distal points together open the channels and relieve pain.

Clinical Notes

Points by pattern: for rising liver yang, add LV2 and GB34; for deficient qi and blood, add CV6 and ST36. The book notes that headache arises in many medical, surgical, neurological, psychiatric and ENT conditions, and that acupuncture works well for migraine and for vascular and functional headache. It also describes cutaneous-needle tapping with cupping and an ear-acupuncture option.

Sources

Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, et al. Essentials of Chinese Acupuncture. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1980. Chapter III, Headache, p. 336–338.

📝 Notes

Public notes from the community and your own private notes on Headache — parietal.

No notes yet.

Back to Point Combinations