Why Do We Put Acupuncture Needles on Your Head?

First-time patients, either silently or out loud, want to know where we’re going to put the needles, and especially if we’re going to place any on the head or face.  Scenes of people getting needles on their face like in episodes of Sex and the City and the 80’s movie Hellraiser didn’t make acupuncture up there seem all that great.  However, once you’ve had an acupuncture treatment and understand how relaxing it makes you feel, most of our patients request the needles on the top of the head or between the eyebrows every time. 

There is a very good reason for this, and it has to do with the Vagus nerve.  The Vagus nerve is special because it is the longest cranial nerve, meaning it originates in the brainstem and reaches down to the heart, lungs, and abdomen.  The branches of the Vagus nerve control heart rate, breathing and digestion.

Social media and the wellness industry have been awash in “How to Stimulate and Regulate Your Vagus Nerve” because there are many ways to intentionally activate the nerve such as breathing exercises, humming, and cold plunging your body or even just your face into ice water.  The attraction to Vagus Nerve stimulation is to activate the “rest and digest” part of the nervous system.   This can help a person treat anxiety attacks, digestive upset, insomnia, and stay out of permanent fight-or-flight mode which causes immune system disturbances and excessive inflammation. 

So back to the question, “Why do we put acupuncture needles on your head?” It’s because we stimulate the vagus nerve through the points on the head and ears.  Many research studies have concluded that acupuncture can affect the vagus nerve resulting in improvements in cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal functions, and general inflammation by activating the parasympathetic nervous system.  They’ve also discovered that acupuncture on the head causes the release of oxytocin, making you feel connected and happy.  We could all use a little more of that and this is why pretty much every treatment gets at least one needle on the head!