Headaches that
medication can't end.

You've mapped the triggers — stress, sleep, screens, weather.
You've tried medication, hydration, darkened rooms.
Some days are manageable.
Others shut everything down.
But the pattern keeps cycling, and you're running out of strategies.

Most chronic headaches have a muscular and neurological component that medication doesn't address.

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01
Muscular Origin
Trigger points in the suboccipital, upper trapezius, and SCM muscles are documented to reproduce headache pain patterns — including temple pain, behind-the-eye pain, and forehead pressure.
02
Research-Backed for Migraine
Acupuncture for migraine prevention is supported by Cochrane-level evidence as effective and comparable to prophylactic medication — with fewer side effects.
03
Frequency Reduction
Most patients experience reduced headache frequency and intensity within the first few sessions. The goal is breaking the cycle — not managing each episode.

It's not just a headache.
It's everything it takes from you.

Chronic headaches steal focus, patience, and presence.
You cancel plans.
You push through workdays at half capacity.
You've accepted a baseline of discomfort that you never agreed to.
The fear of the next one is almost as exhausting as the headache itself.

If medication controls the symptom but the pattern keeps cycling, the source hasn't been treated.

Tension or pressure that wraps from the back of the head to the forehead
Pain behind one or both eyes that worsens with screen time
Migraines with or without aura that cycle weekly or monthly
Neck stiffness that precedes or accompanies every headache
Sensitivity to light, sound, or movement during episodes
Over-reliance on medication that is becoming less effective

What started as a bad day is already becoming most days.

Two modalities targeting
every layer of headache pain.

Chronic headaches involve muscular tension, nervous system dysregulation, and vascular reactivity. Acunatomy addresses all three at once.

Acupuncture

Regulates the nervous system and reduces migraine frequency

Targets the autonomic nervous system pathways involved in migraine initiation and vascular headache. Reduces systemic inflammation. Calms the trigeminal nerve sensitization that amplifies pain signals.
Research-backed for both episodic and chronic migraine prevention.

Dry Needling

Deactivates the muscles reproducing your headache pattern

The suboccipital muscles, upper trapezius, SCM, and temporalis are the primary muscular drivers of referred head pain. Trigger points in these muscles reproduce temple pain, eye pain, and forehead pressure with remarkable specificity. Dry needling deactivates them directly — often reducing headache intensity within the same session.

Together

Acupuncture calms the cycle.
Dry needling clears the trigger.

Headaches driven by both muscular tension and neurological sensitization require both modalities. Acupuncture reduces the nervous system's amplification of pain. Dry needling eliminates the muscular trigger points reproducing it. Together, they break the cycle that medication only pauses.

Why It Works When Other Treatments Don't

Your headache may start in your neck

Cervicogenic headaches — headaches caused by dysfunction in the cervical spine and surrounding muscles — are among the most common and most underdiagnosed types. They feel like migraines but originate in the neck. Treating the head without treating the neck leaves the generator intact.

Two independent Cochrane reviews found acupuncture reduced migraine frequency by over 50% and was as effective as preventive drugs for tension headaches — with fewer side effects. Suboccipital trigger points are present in over 90% of tension headache patients.

Common questions about headache and migraine treatment.

Yes. Multiple large-scale studies show acupuncture reduces migraine frequency by 50% or more in a significant number of patients. It works by regulating the autonomic nervous system, reducing the hypersensitivity that triggers migraines, and improving vascular regulation. At Acunatomy, we also target the muscular component — trigger points in the neck and jaw that contribute to the migraine threshold. Most patients see a reduction in frequency within the first 3–4 visits.

Daily tension headaches are almost always driven by active trigger points in the cervical and suboccipital muscles. The upper trapezius, SCM, and suboccipitals refer pain directly into the temples, forehead, and behind the eyes. Dry needling deactivates these trigger points, and acupuncture resets the nervous system’s pain threshold. Patients with daily headaches often see the frequency drop to a few per week within the first two visits, then continue to improve.

Absolutely. Acupuncture and dry needling work through different mechanisms than medication — they address the muscular and neurological drivers directly, rather than blocking pain signals chemically. Many patients use treatment alongside their existing medication and find they need less over time. We don’t ask you to stop anything your doctor has prescribed. The two approaches complement each other.

A typical treatment timeline.

Visit 1
Assessment + First Treatment
Full assessment of your headache history, cervical function, and trigger point involvement. Treatment begins in the same session. Many patients feel reduced head and neck tension before they leave. 60–75 minutes.
Visits 2–4
Progressive Resolution
Headache frequency and intensity typically begin to reduce. Sessions focus on progressively deactivating the cervical and cranial trigger points sustaining the pattern. Migraine intervals often lengthen.
Visits 5+
Resolution or Maintenance
Tension headaches often resolve in 4–6 sessions. Chronic migraine patterns may require a longer course. The goal is breaking the cycle of recurrence — not managing each individual episode.

Every case is different. This is a general framework — your treatment plan will be tailored to what we find in your assessment.

The tightness in your neck and jaw has become the baseline.
You've stopped noticing the bad days until they're migraines.
The medication works a little less than it used to.

You adjusted.
The cause advanced.

What resolution looks like
for your headaches.

Not a marginal improvement. A different baseline.

Keeping medication in every bag, every drawer, just in case

Walking out the door without checking for pills.

Losing an entire day to a migraine you felt coming since morning

A day that goes the way you planned it.

The tension that starts in your neck and crawls up behind your eyes by afternoon

Your neck stays quiet. Your eyes stay clear.

Never had acupuncture before? →

Your headaches
have a source.
Let's find it.

Out-of-Network Insurance Accepted: Empire BCBS · Oxford · United Health Care · Cigna · Aetna · Self-Pay Available