Heavy-headedness

Feeling of heaviness in the head, sometimes combined with dizziness. Heavy-headedness can be caused by wind-damp, damp-heat, phlegm-damp, or insufficiency of center qì.

Patterns

Wind-damp (风湿 fēng shī) heavy-headedness is accompanied by headache, head heavy as if swathed (bag-over-the-head sensation), exacerbation in rainy yīn-type weather, nasal congestion, a heavy cumbersome, aching body, oppression in the chest, thin slimy tongue fur, and floating moderate or soggy pulse.

Medicinal therapy: Dispel wind and overcome dampness with Notopterygium Dampness-Overcoming Decoction (羌活胜湿汤 qiāng huó shèng shī tāng), and if there is a stomach complication, add officinal magnolia bark (Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex, 厚朴 hòu pò), atractylodes (Atractylodis Rhizoma, 苍朮 cāng zhú), and pinellia (Pinelliae Rhizoma, 半夏 bàn xià) to rectify qì.

Acumoxatherapy: Base treatment mainly on triple-yáng channel points, GV and ST. Select GB-20 (Wind Pool, 风池 fēng chí), GV-16 (Wind Mansion, 风府 fēng fǔ), GV-20 (Hundred Convergences, 百会 bǎi huì), Greater yáng (tài yáng) (太阳 tài yáng), LI-4 (Union Valley, 合谷 hé gǔ), SI-3 (Back Ravine, 后溪 hòu xī), SP-9 (Yīn Mound Spring, 阴陵泉 yīn líng quán), and ST-8 (Head Corner, 头维 tóu wéi); needle with drainage.

Damp-heat (湿热 shī rè) heavy-headedness is accompanied by a painful distension (feeling of pressure in the head) that worsens at noon, red face, generalized heat, vexation, oppression in the chest, no desire for food and drink, dark yellow urine, yellow slimy tongue fur, and a slippery rapid or soggy rapid pulse.

Medicinal therapy: Clear heat and transform dampness using Clear Sky Paste (清空膏 qīng kōng gāo).

Acumoxatherapy: Base treatment mainly on ST and LI. Select Greater yáng (tài yáng) (太阳 tài yáng), LI-4 (Union Valley, 合谷 hé gǔ), LI-11 (Pool at the Bend, 曲池 qū chí), ST-36 (Leg Three Lǐ, 足三里 zú sān lǐ), and SP-9 (Yīn Mound Spring, 阴陵泉 yīn líng quán); needle with drainage.

Phlegm-damp (痰湿 tán shī) heavy-headedness is worst in the morning on rising and is accompanied by dizziness, tinnitus, hypersomnia, glomus and oppression in the chest and stomach duct, nausea and drool ejection, white slimy tongue fur, and a soggy slippery pulse.

Medicinal therapy: Dry dampness and transform phlegm with formulas such as Pinellia, White Atractylodes, and Gastrodia Decoction (半夏白朮天麻汤 bàn xià bái zhú tiān má tāng).

Acumoxatherapy: Base treatment mainly on CV, GB, ST, and LI. Select GV-20 (Hundred Convergences, 百会 bǎi huì), GB-20 (Wind Pool, 风池 fēng chí), PC-6 (Inner Pass, 内关 nèi guān), LI-4 (Union Valley, 合谷 hé gǔ), CV-12 (Center Stomach Duct, 中脘 zhōng wǎn), ST-36 (Leg Three Lǐ, 足三里 zú sān lǐ), ST-40 (Bountiful Bulge, 丰隆 fēng lóng), ST-8 (Head Corner, 头维 tóu wéi), Greater yáng (tài yáng) (太阳 tài yáng), and SP-9 (Yīn Mound Spring, 阴陵泉 yīn líng quán); needling with drainage.

Insufficiency of center qì (中气不足 zhōng qì bù zú) heavy-headedness is characterized by fuzzy-headedness or empty-headedness and dizziness and is accompanied by lusterless complexion, lassitude of spirit and lack of strength, reduced food intake, sloppy stool, pale tongue with dental impressions, and forceless moderate pulse.

Medicinal therapy: Use Center-Supplementing Qì-Boosting Decoction (补中益气汤 bǔ zhōng yì qì tāng) to upbear clear yáng.

Acumoxatherapy: Base treatment mainly on CV and ST. Select GV-20 (Hundred Convergences, 百会 bǎi huì), CV-12 (Center Stomach Duct, 中脘 zhōng wǎn), CV-6 (Sea of Qì, 气海 qì hǎi), CV-4 (Pass Head, 关元 guān yuán), ST-36 (Leg Three Lǐ, 足三里 zú sān lǐ), and SP-3 (Supreme White, 太白 tài bái); needle with supplementation and add moxa.