Migraine Sufferer Finds Relief with Acupuncture

For as long as she can remember, Cherie Rosenberger of Chardon, Ohio, has lived with migraines. The headaches began when she was in elementary school and have remained a constant part of her life for decades.

“Over the years, I became able to quickly identify the onset of a migraine,” said Cherie. “They begin on the left side of my head, behind my ear, and at the base of my neck. Then they spread across my head and into my forehead. There has to be some sort of hereditary component. Cluster migraines run in my family.”

Accompanying the migraine pain is debilitating nausea, dry heaving and vomiting, making an already devastating condition even more difficult to manage.

“At my worst, I experienced migraines 20 or more days each month,” she said. “The triggers for the headaches are hard to manage because they’re generally environmental factors like the weather – especially humidity – and also certain smells. You can’t control if other people around you are wearing perfumes and colognes.”

For symptom management, Cherie has relied on medication for many years. About 20 years ago, she started 10 milligrams of rizatriptan at the onset of a migraine. While medication helped, it did not prevent all the symptoms. The headaches could become so severe that she would retreat to a dark room for as long as 24 hours. During some episodes, the nausea was so intense that she could not even keep down water.

In 2022, Cherie heard about acupuncture from a colleague whose wife also suffered from migraines. Intrigued by the possibility of additional relief, she researched providers and found Jacob Wolf, ND, a naturopathic doctor and a licensed acupuncturist with University Hospitals Connor Whole Health.

“Going into acupuncture, I was realistic about my expectations,” said Cherie. “I didn’t expect a cure, and I understood that my headaches would likely continue, but I was still hoping to find some sort of relief. My ultimate goal was to help reduce the nausea that comes along with my migraines.”

Acupuncture is a treatment used to address not only pain, but a wide variety of disease conditions through the stimulation of certain body points using hair-thin, sterile, disposable needles. When acupuncture needles stimulate the body, various changes happen, including increased blood flow, regulation of the nervous system, decreased pain sensitivity and improved emotional well-being.

Acupuncture can treat a wide variety of conditions, from pain to stress and anxiety. Some of the most common conditions treated at UH Connor Whole Health are back pain, knee pain, mood disorders such as anxiety, depression, stress, headaches and migraines, digestive issues, infertility, pregnancy support, chronic pain and fatigue.

“Cherie's biggest concern was the progression from the start of a migraine to the debilitating nausea even with early migraine medication use,” said Dr. Wolf. “I structured her protocol to focus on the nausea and try to limit her migraine frequency and intensity. One key indicator that we tracked was the frequency of needing multiple medication doses to control her migraine. We have seen this frequency come down over time as her symptoms have lessened.”

Since starting acupuncture, Cherie says she has achieved exactly what she hoped for. Her frequency of migraines has decreased slightly from 20-plus to about 15 migraines monthly, but the impact on her nausea is significant.

“The debilitating nausea that I had regularly is now gone,” Cherie said. “Although I still get migraines, I don’t get sick from them. I haven’t gotten nausea from a migraine in three years.”

After seeing Dr. Wolf more often initially, today she follows a maintenance program, receiving acupuncture treatments approximately every 10 weeks. Her appointments typically last about 45 minutes and begin with 10 to 15 minutes of conversation before treatment. She describes Dr. Wolf as personable and caring, noting that they share a love for dogs and that he is genuinely committed to doing what is right for his patients.

Now at 62 years old, Cherie sees acupuncture as an important complement to her overall migraine management plan. The outcome represents a major improvement in her quality of life. Acupuncture has not eliminated her migraines, but it has lessened their frequency and successfully addressed one of the most difficult aspects of her suffering.

“Cherie’s outcome is common for what we see in our migraine and headache patients,” said Dr. Wolf. “We aim to lessen our patients’ suffering, improve their symptoms and increase their quality of life. While a complete resolution of symptoms is optimal, we know that can be challenging with chronic migraine sufferers. We’re pleased Cherie is happy with her treatment and that’s what we hope to see in all our patients and why we do what we do.”