Back of the Head (Occiput)
Chronic headaches in this area are usually due to a Kidney deficiency manifesting on the
Bladder channel.
Acute headaches here are due to invasion of external Wind (usually Wind-Cold) and form a
typical feature of the Greater Yang pattern within the 6-Stage pattern identification (see
Appendix 2). This type of headache is accompanied by great stiffness of the back of the neck.
In a few cases, occipital headache can be associated with a Bladder pattern, such as Damp-Heat
in the Bladder, in which case the pain will be sharp.
Whole Head
Chronic headaches in this area are due to Kidney-Essence deficiency. The Kidney-Essence
nourishes the brain and when it is deficient it lacks nourishment. This can give rise to dull
headaches in the whole head accompanied by a feeling of emptiness of the head.
Acute headaches affecting the whole head are due to invasion of external Wind (which can be
either Wind-Cold or Wind-Heat). These are severe and sharp in character, sometimes
accompanied by a pulling sensation.
Thus there is generally a correlation between the pattern related to a specific type of headache
and the channel involved. For example, the pattern of Liver-Yang rising will give rise to
headaches on the Gall-Bladder channel, while the pattern of Kidney deficiency will cause
headaches on the Bladder channel. However, there can be exceptions. This happens in situations
when more than one pattern is involved. For example, a person may suffer from a chronic
Kidney deficiency leading to the rising of Liver-Yang. If the Kidney deficiency is very
long-standing and the Bladder channel on the head is affected, it is possible for Liver-Yang type
of headaches (i.e. very sharp and throbbing in character) to manifest on the Bladder channel on
the occiput.
It should also be remembered that headaches frequently occur in different parts of the head at
different times. This is not unusual and is simply due to the coexistence of two different patterns
causing headaches. For example, Liver-Blood deficiency can give rise to Liver-Yang rising. In
this case a person may suffer from dull headaches on top of the head reflecting the Liver-Blood
deficiency, occasionally changing into sharp and throbbing headaches on one temple reflecting
the Liver-Yang rising.
If the area of the headache changes all the time and the headache is experienced in different parts