Acupuncture for Migraines in Greenville, SC
Acupuncture for Migraines at IHP Greenville. Dr. Hendry, DAOM — NCBAHM-certified, 25+ yrs experience, hospital-credentialed. Call (864) 365-6156.
"I can't say enough good things about Dr. Hendry. He really listens to your experience and what you need to share about your situation, is patient, and takes the time to explain clearly what acupuncture is about."
— Catherine Hosack · April 2015 · Google Review
The Cochrane review found acupuncture at least as effective as topiramate for migraine prevention — with better tolerability. That result isn't surprising to me clinically, because acupuncture and topiramate share a neurological target: the trigeminal-vascular axis. The difference is mechanism. Acupuncture reduces CGRP concentrations through endogenous regulatory pathways. It also addresses what the drugs don't: the Liver Yang Rising constitutional pattern that creates the vascular reactivity that makes these patients prone to triggering in the first place.
How Acupuncture for Migraines Works
Migraine treatment acupuncture uses a combination of local (head and neck) points and distal points that regulate the trigeminal-vascular axis. Specific points address the pattern most associated with migraines in Chinese medicine — Liver Yang Rising, which corresponds to the vascular dysregulation and neurogenic inflammation underlying most migraines. Dr. Hendry also identifies and treats the constitutional vulnerability (Liver Blood Deficiency, Kidney Yin Deficiency) that makes patients prone to migraine flares.
Conditions Treated with Acupuncture for Migraines
Acupuncture vs. CGRP Inhibitors and Triptans for Migraine Prevention
Triptans are highly effective acute migraine abortives and represent a genuine pharmacological advance. Their mechanism — selective 5-HT1B/1D agonism producing vasoconstriction of dilated meningeal vessels and inhibition of CGRP release from trigeminal afferents — is well-matched to the acute migraine attack. For prevention, CGRP pathway therapies (monoclonal antibodies targeting CGRP or its receptor) are the most recent pharmacological development and demonstrate meaningful reduction in monthly migraine days for approximately 50% of treated patients. However, they require monthly or quarterly self-injection, cost several hundred dollars per dose without insurance coverage, and produce non-response in half the eligible population. The Cochrane review by Linde et al. (2016) demonstrates that acupuncture achieves equivalent migraine day reduction to prophylactic medications with a benefit-risk profile that includes no cardiovascular contraindications, no rebound headache risk, and no teratogenicity concerns — making it appropriate for the large population of migraine sufferers who are pregnant, planning pregnancy, or who have the cardiovascular risk factors that preclude triptan or ergotamine use. For patients who respond partially to CGRP antibodies, combined acupuncture reduces residual attack burden through complementary neurological mechanisms. For patients seeking a durable preventive strategy without indefinite pharmacological commitment, the Cochrane evidence supports acupuncture as a first-tier option rather than a last resort.
Research & Evidence
Migraine pathophysiology involves cortical spreading depression (CSD), trigeminal nerve sensitization, and neurogenic inflammation in the dural vasculature mediated by calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). Acupuncture for migraine prevention has been evaluated in multiple high-quality randomized trials, with the strongest evidence summarized by the Cochrane review conducted by Linde K et al. on acupuncture for the prevention of episodic migraine (Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2016). The review found that acupuncture is at least as effective as prophylactic drug treatment — including topiramate, valproate, and beta-blockers — in reducing migraine frequency, with a superior tolerability profile. The neurological mechanism involves several pathways: acupuncture at the Gallbladder and Triple Warmer channel points in the temporal and occipital regions activates the trigeminal-cervical complex, downregulating the sensitization of trigeminal nucleus caudalis neurons that is central to migraine chronification. Needling also reduces CGRP concentrations in the peripheral blood — the same molecular target as the recently approved CGRP monoclonal antibodies (erenumab, fremanezumab) but through endogenous regulatory mechanisms rather than receptor blockade. Serotonergic modulation via acupuncture similarly addresses the 5-HT1B/1D receptor-mediated vasoregulatory component of migraine.
Your First Appointment
Keep a migraine diary for 2 weeks before your appointment: frequency, duration, severity, location, aura characteristics, and triggers you've identified. Bring information about any migraine medications — acute and preventive. Dr. Hendry may recommend functional medicine testing for magnesium status, hormonal triggers, and inflammatory markers if initial assessment suggests these.
Why Dr. Hendry for Acupuncture for Migraines
Dr. Hendry's neurological research background — including his 2013 publication on neurogenesis — gives him a mechanistic understanding of the neural pathways involved in migraine that most acupuncturists do not possess. This informs his ability to select the precise combination of points and techniques that address the neurological, vascular, and constitutional components simultaneously.