Needling the Hua Tuo Jia Ji Points for Menstrual Period Migraines

abstracted & translated by
Bob Flaws, L.Ac., FNAAOM (USA), FRCHM (UK)

Keywords: Chinese medicine, acupuncture, menstrual period migraines, Hua Tuo jia ji points

On page 105 of issue #2, 2007 of the Zhe Jiang Zhong Yi Za Zhi (Zhejiang Journal of Chinese Medicine), Wang Cheng-guo and Xu Cun-hua published an article titled “The Treatment of 35 Cases of Menstrual Period Migraine with the Hua Tuo Jia Ji Points.” A summary of this article is presented below.

Cohort description:

Altogether, there were 70 patients randomly divided into two groups of 35 patients each. In the treatment group, the patients were 18-41 years of age, with an average age of 34.7 years. These patients’ course of disease had lasted from eight months to seven years. Four cases had bilateral headaches, 27 had consistently one-sided headaches, and four cases experienced headaches which shifted from side to side. In the comparison group, the patients’ ages were 17-45 years, with an average age of 34.3 years. These patients had suffered from menstrual migraines from 1-6 years. Five cases had bilateral headaches, 25 had consistently one-sided headaches, and five cases had headaches which shifted from side to side. Therefore, in terms of age, disease duration, and disease condition, these two groups were considered statistically comparable.

Treatment method:

All members of the treatment group were needled at Feng Shi (GB 20) and Hua Tuo paravertebral points 5, 7, 9, 11, and 14. Feng Chi was needled with a 1.5 inch needle with the needle inserted to a depth of one inch and the tip of the needle pointed toward the inner canthus of the opposite eye. After obtaining the qi, the needles were manipulated with twisting and turning draining technique. The needle sensation was propagated along the shao yang channel to the cheeks or to the Tai Yang (M-HN-9) area on the temples. Afterwards the needles were removed. The Hua Tuo paravertebral points were needled with 1.5 inch needles to a depth of approximately one inch with the tips of the needles angled medially towards the spine at an angle of 75% to the skin. The needle sensation at these points was propagated up and down the spinal column. This treatment was begun three days before the expected onset of menstruation and was continued once per day through the menstrual period. Three menstrual periods equaled one course of treatment.

All members of the comparison began orally taking 10 milligrams of an unidentifiable Western drug (Xi Bi Ling, probably imipramine) each day three days before the expected onset of menstruation and three menstrual cycles also equaled one course of treatment for this group.

Study outcomes:

Cure was defined as complete disappearance of headaches and any accompanying symptoms with no recurrence on follow-up after one year. Marked effect meant that there was marked improvement in both headaches and accompanying symptoms or that there was simply a very slight headache. Some effect meant that there was some improvement in the headaches and accompanying symptoms, but this improvement was not pronounced. No effect meant that there was no improvement in either the headaches or accompanying symptoms. The following table shows the outcomes of the two groups based on these criteria.

Therefore, the acupuncture regime was deemed more effective overall than the Western drug treatment.

Discussion:

According to the authors of this study, the Hua Tuo paravertebral points regulate the function of the internal viscera. In Chinese medicine, this condition is related to liver channel depressive heat and phlegm and stasis obstructing the network vessels. The combination of Feng Chiua Tuo paravertebral points 5, 7, 9, 11, and 14 can level the liver and extinguish wind, fortify the spleen and transform phlegm, nourish blood and free the flow of the network vessels. Therefore, it achieves fully satisfactory therapeutic effects for this condition.

Copyright © Blue Poppy Press, 2007. All rights reserved.