Acupressure for Headaches:

Relieve Pain Naturally



Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is one of the most widely known kinds of energy healing--but you may have been to a TCM practitioner such as an acupuncturist and not even thought of it as energy medicine! TCM works with 'chi," which is just another word for energy. Acupressure is form of TCM, and if you suffer from headaches, you can easily learn to use acupressure for headaches, relieving the pain simply and naturally. Personally, I have found these accessible acupressure techniques to be very helpful.
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Acupuncture and acupressure, methods used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, treat illness and pain as symptoms of an interrupted flow of qi (energy). They work to restore and balance the body's flow of qi, accessing it at the acupoints where the qi/chi flows close to the surface of the body. While acupuncture uses needles and requires a long training period, acupressure uses finger pressure and can be learned and practiced by non-professionals.

Below are a few acupressure points that work for headache relief. You can do all of them as a routine, or just experiment and find the ones that work best for you. Remember to be gentle with facial acupoints! Generally, hold the points until you feel relief, relaxation, or another energetic shift, for up to a minute. And observe the cautions!

Relief Points: Using Acupressure for Headaches

  • The “Hoku point” (LI4) is excellent for headache relief. It is located on the back of the hand, in the webbing where the thumb and index finger meet. Find the exact point by bringing your thumb and index finger together. The muscle will bulge a little--that's the spot.Squeeze the point by putting your thumb on the point, and your index finger on the palm side of your hand. Angle the pressure toward the bone that connects with the index finger. Hold for one minute and switch hands.Do not use the Hoku Point if you are pregnant.
  • Use your thumbs to firmly press the back of the neck underneath the base of your skull into the indentations on either side of the spine, two to three inches apart, depending on the size of your skull. Slowly tilt your head back and firmly press up underneath the skull. Hold for a minute or until you feel relief. These are the GB20 points. This technique is one of my personal favorites for headache relief.
  • On the top of your feet, press into the web between the big and second toes, near its end (where it joins together). You can either use your hands for this, working both feet at the same time, or you can use the heel of the opposite foot to work one foot at a time. Once again, hold for a minute or until you feel relief. This point is Lv3.
  • Let your head tilt downward and place your index and third fingers on the point directly between the eyebrows, where the bridge of the nose meets the forehead, holding for one minute or until feel relief. (Or just use an index finger or thumb.) This point is called GV24.5.
  • Apply steady pressure to the top of head, at the point where lines drawn to the top of the head from the nose and the high point of the ears would intersect. This is GV20. Do not use this point if you have high blood pressure.
  • Use your thumb and index finger to press the indentations on either side of the nose, where the bridge of the nose meets the ridge of the eyebrows. This is B2.Use the middle and index fingers of both hands to gently press up underneath the cheekbones, directly below the center of the eye. This point is St3.

Most of these suggestions on acupressure for headaches are taken from Acupressure’s Potent Points, by Michael Reed Gach. This is an excellent book -- I highly recommend having it in your home library.


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