Neurology · TCM and prevention
Migraine treatment in China (Boao Lecheng): prevention and TCM
Migraine cannot be «cured for good», but it can be brought under control — fewer attacks, and milder ones. What matters is not a miracle method but systematic prevention. Acupuncture is one of the few non-drug approaches with a serious evidence base specifically in migraine.
About the condition
Migraine and chronic headache: what happens in the joint
Migraine is not «just a headache» but a neurological condition. An attack lasts from 4 to 72 hours, the pain is usually one-sided and throbbing, worsens with movement and comes with nausea and sensitivity to light and sound. Some people get an aura beforehand — visual or sensory symptoms.
The mechanism is no longer explained as «blood-vessel spasm». Migraine is now understood as a neurovascular disorder involving the trigeminovascular system and the CGRP protein — the target of the newest preventive medicines.
The key idea for planning treatment: the goal is not to «remove migraine forever» but to reduce the frequency, intensity and duration of attacks enough that they stop running your life.
Why people come
The situations we see most often
If one of these is yours, it is worth establishing the stage and the options.
- Attacks several times a month
Headache derails your schedule regularly, not occasionally.
- Painkillers needed more and more often
A warning sign: overusing analgesics itself causes headache.
- Prevention did not suit you
The prescribed medicines did not help or were poorly tolerated.
- You want a non-drug route
You are looking for something to combine with therapy, or to replace part of the tablets.
- The pain has become chronic
Headache on 15 or more days a month is a separate situation with its own approach.
- You want a calm review
You want a neurologist to go through your history, not simply write a prescription.
Standard care first
What is normally done before anything else
We do not propose replacing proven treatment. On the contrary: without it, any next step loses its meaning.
Proven management of migraine has two parts — and both matter:
- Treating the attack — medicines chosen by a physician, taken as early in the attack as possible
- Prevention — where attacks are frequent, a course of preventive therapy reduces their number
- A headache diary — without it there is no way to tell whether treatment is working
- Working with triggers — sleep, food, dehydration, stress and, in women, the hormonal cycle
- Watching painkiller use — frequent use sustains the pain itself (medication-overuse headache)
The most common pattern we see: someone has treated attacks with tablets for years but has never had proper prevention. That is where to start.
The regenerative approach
What the cluster additionally considers
On medical grounds — as an addition to standard care, never instead of it.
- First, confirm the diagnosis
It matters to separate migraine from tension-type headache, cluster headache and medication-overuse headache: the approach differs.
- Acupuncture — with an evidence base
Migraine is one of the few areas where acupuncture has been studied seriously, and it is considered for reducing attack frequency. It complements neurological care rather than replacing it.
- A course, not a single session
Prevention is judged by attacks per month, so a full course and a diary are needed.
- Working with lifestyle
Sleep, food and activity are part of the programme. Without them any method gives unstable results.
Methods
Which directions may be considered
What suits your case is determined by a physician after diagnostics.
Plainly about the limits
When the regenerative route is not for you
This matters more than any marketing: knowing in advance when the method is not considered.
Some headaches mean a trip must not be planned — urgent local care is needed:
- Sudden «thunderclap» headache — peaking within seconds; this is an emergency
- Headache with high fever and a stiff neck
- A headache appearing for the first time after 50, or a sharp change in its character
- A neurological deficit — weakness, disturbed speech or vision, facial asymmetry
- Headache after a head injury or with a cancer history
Such headaches can be secondary — a symptom of another condition. That needs a doctor immediately, not a programme abroad.
How it works
From your records to coming home
- 11. History and diary
You describe the attacks, their frequency and what you have taken. We translate the records.
- 22. Preliminary assessment
The physician says whether this looks like migraine and what makes sense. No diagnosis online.
- 33. Neurological examination
Confirming the headache type, excluding secondary causes, assessing contraindications.
- 44. The programme
Prevention as prescribed, plus a course of acupuncture by indication.
- 55. Assessing the result at home
You keep the diary: prevention is judged by the number of attacks per month.
Why here
What the Boao Lecheng cluster offers
- Neurologist and TCM together
Modern diagnostics and licensed Chinese medicine sit in one place and combine deliberately.
- A full course, back to back
The trip format allows a course without gaps — essential for prevention.
- A calm environment
A change of setting and an unhurried routine reduce attack frequency for many people by themselves.
- Support and interpreting
A coordinator runs the whole route: documents, clinic, interpreting and logistics.
Common questions
The essentials
Send your scans — and get a straight answer
A specialist physician in the cluster will look at your stage and say whether the regenerative route is worth considering. We do not diagnose online.