Head wind

1. A disease characterized by persistent remittent, usually intense headache attributed to wind-cold or wind-heat invasion and obstruction of the channels by phlegm or static blood. Head wind may be accompanied by various other signs such as eye pain and loss of vision, runny nose, nausea, or dizziness, numbness of the head, or stiffness of the neck.

Biomedical correspondence: Head wind is often observed in what modern medicine calls glaucoma, migraine, vascular headache, rhinitis, paranasal sinusitis, brain tumors, and nervous headache.

Medicinal therapy: Treat mainly by dispelling wind and freeing the network vessels, adding cold-dispelling, fire-clearing, phlegm-transforming, and stasis-expelling action as needed. Formulas used include Wind-Dispersing Powder (消风散 xiāo fēng sǎn), Chuanxiong and Asarum Phlegm-Abducting Decoction (芎辛导痰汤 xiōng xīn dǎo tán tāng) and House of Blood Stasis-Expelling Decoction (血府逐瘀汤 xuè fǔ zhú yū tāng) and variations. Head wind on one side of the head is called hemilateral head wind, whereas head wind of the temples with pain penetrating into the brain is called brain-squeezing wind. Furthermore, phlegm reversal headache, kidney reversal headache, and damp-heat headache can also be considered as a head wind when they have persisted over prolonged periods.

Acumoxatherapy: Base treatment mainly on points of the three yáng channels, GV, and LU. Main points: GB-20 (Wind Pool, 风池 fēng chí), GV-20 (Hundred Convergences, 百会 bǎi huì), Greater yáng (tài yáng) (太阳 tài yáng), LI-4 (Union Valley, 合谷 hé gǔ), LU-7 (Broken Sequence, 列缺 liè quē), and SI-3 (Back Ravine, 后溪 hòu xī).

Point selection according to causes: For wind-cold, add GV-16 (Wind Mansion, 风府 fēng fǔ) and TB-5 (Outer Pass, 外关 wài guān), and needle with even supplementation and drainage and add moxa. For wind-heat, add GV-14 (Great Hammer, 大椎 dà zhuī) and LI-11 (Pool at the Bend, 曲池 qū chí), needling with even supplementation and drainage. For phlegm depression and blood stasis, add ouch points (阿是穴 ā shì xué), ST-40 (Bountiful Bulge, 丰隆 fēng lóng), CV-12 (Center Stomach Duct, 中脘 zhōng wǎn), SP-9 (Yīn Mound Spring, 阴陵泉 yīn líng quán), SP-6 (Three Yīn Intersection, 三阴交 sān yīn jiāo), and BL-17 (Diaphragm Transport, 膈俞 gé shù), needling with drainage and, if appropriate, add moxa.

Point selection according to signs: For eye pain, add BL-2 (Bamboo Gathering, 攒竹 zǎn zhú) and GV-23 (Upper Star, 上星 shàng xīng). For runny nose with malodorous snivel, add LI-20 (Welcome Fragrance, 迎香 yíng xiāng) and GV-26 (Water Trough, 水沟 shuǐ gōu). For nausea, add ST-36 (Leg Three Lǐ, 足三里 zú sān lǐ) and PC-6 (Inner Pass, 内关 nèi guān). For tinnitus, add TB-17 (Wind Screen, 翳风 yì fēng), TB-3 (Central Islet, 中渚 zhōng zhǔ), TB-21 (Ear Gate, 耳门 ěr mén), and SI-19 (Auditory Palace, 听宫 tīng gōng). For hemilateral head wind, add Greater yáng (tài yáng) (太阳 tài yáng) joining GB-8 (Valley Lead, 率谷 shuài gǔ). For brain-squeezing wind, add GV-22 (Fontanel Meeting, 囟会 xìn huì), KI-3 (Great Ravine, 太溪 tài xī), and GV-23 (Upper Star, 上星 shàng xīng). For selection of points according to affected area, see headache.

2. Any condition characterized by the contraction of wind evil in the head and that causes headache, dizziness, deviated eyes and mouth, itching and scaling of the scalp, etc.