Why does acupuncture for tension-type headache focus on tranquilizing the mind and calming the spirit?

  Tension headache is the most common disease in neurology acupuncture clinics. Its clinical manifestation is chronic head tightness style pressure pain, usually bilateral headache, which may be related to psychological stress at the beginning of the disease, and there is often no obvious heart factor after it turns into chronic form. The diagnosis of tension-type headache in China is often ignored and not standardized, and it is often diagnosed as “neuropathic headache” and “neurovascular headache”. Treatment measures are also confusing. At present, the combination of non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatment is advocated for tension-type headache with a clear diagnosis, because the pathogenesis of tension-type headache is not well understood and may be related to many factors, including psychological factors, central sensory hypersensitivity, pericranial muscle contraction and myofasciitis, and neurotransmitter factors. Therefore, for patients with tension-type headache, we should first establish patients’ trust in doctors, provide appropriate psychological guidance, encourage patients to establish good living habits, and adopt non-pharmacological treatment awe as much as possible to consider first, such as relaxation therapy, physical therapy, biofeedback and herbal acupuncture, etc. Chinese traditional Chinese medicine, especially acupuncture, has accumulated a lot of clinical experience in treating various types of tension-type headache, and it can be said that the efficacy is certain and the side effects are few. It can be said that the efficacy is certain and the advantages of less side effects have become the clinical consensus. During the seven-year period from 2002.1 to 2009.5, a large number of patients with tension-type headache were treated directly in the neurology and acupuncture outpatient clinics, and it was found that most of the patients with tension-type headache had various psychological changes and rapid emotional changes before the onset of the headache, and the degree and duration of the headache were positively correlated with mood and emotion. With the prolongation of the onset of tension-type headache, most of the patients suffer from panic and shortness of breath, palpitation and insomnia, high mental tension, anxiety, fear, depression and other psychological disorders, and even extreme suicidal tendencies. In response to this situation, in the clinical treatment with traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture and moxibustion, we proposed the view that acupuncture and moxibustion treatment for tension-type headache should focus on regulating the heart, and selectively added a group of six points (Daling, Neiguan, Shenmen, Tanzhong, and Juqui) to regulate the heart and calm the mind. From the above clinical observations, we found that acupuncture has obvious advantages over pure western medicine in the treatment of tension-type headache, with its rapid, long-lasting pain-relieving effect and no side effects. In terms of clinical statistics, there is a significant difference (P < 0.05).  The ancient medical sage advocated "the upper work to guard the spirit", in which the meaning of "spirit" includes spiritual, psychological and all the internal and external factors that affect human health, including physical and psychological, and here the emphasis is on the whole body and mind of the practitioner, and the patient together with the whole spirit of tacit cooperation The needle is in harmony with the person, and the person is in harmony with heaven and earth and nature. Modern people's pace of life is accelerating, the fierce competition in society, a large number of psychological disorders, as well as headaches, depression and a large number of somatic symptoms, how to adjust this psychological disorders require close cooperation between doctors and patients. A large number of clinical practices have proved that traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture have unique advantages that can be further explored and improved.