"I had been experiencing perpetual migraines - I either had a headache or full-blown migraine every single day. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the level of natural childbirth), my migraines usually averaged an 8. My longest migraine lasted for 21 days.

I couldn't work; I had no time for hobbies...I was lucky to feel up to reading a bedtime story. I was living in panic mode...I never knew if the next day was going to be so bad I couldn't even function. I had to call in 'the cavalry' - my family - to come bail me out so often that they quit making plans to do anything. My children associated Grandma and Grandpa coming over with me having a headache. It makes it hard to get up in the morning when you know you're a burden right off the bat. I was afraid to make any commitments, and I missed a lot of my daughter's school functions. There was a lot of stuff we didn't do...it's a very isolated feeling."

Can you relate? Are you sick of your headaches or migraines taking over your life? There is hope. You don't have to "just deal with it." There are solutions.

When I first see a patient suffering from headaches or migraines, I ask a lot of questions. As with most ailments, there are generally several different reasons why an individual has headaches, and they will usually be a different combination from one person to the next.

That's why it's important to seek the services of a skilled practitioner who is able to dig deep and identify the root cause(s) of your headaches. We look for the reasons why the headaches exist. We look at it like a picture puzzle. Our goal is to find all the puzzle pieces of our headache picture, so that we can resolve them and have a complete picture of health!

What happened with the mother I quoted above? Read for yourself:

"When I began seeing Dr. Carling, I expected it to take several months of acupuncture and nutritional therapy before I saw any noticeable improvement...I was so surprised when I noticed a difference within the first week.

"Now, a month later, I am so much better. I have only experienced one massive migraine since I began treatment with Dr. Carling. When the migraine started, I came in to see her (she actually came in on her day off to treat me) and she was able to break the migraine. Under normal circumstances, that migraine would have sent me to the emergency room. Other than that one migraine, I have only experienced mild headaches since I started seeing Dr. Carling.

"Things are so much better for my family. Grandma and Grandpa have to make excuses to come over to play with the kids now. The other day, Grandpa came over and my son said, 'Oh, do you have a headache?' I told him that Grandpa was coming over to play with him. He was so happy and excited!"

Holly Carling is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist, Doctor of Naturopathy, Clinical Nutritionist and Master Herbologist with more than 32 years of experience. She is currently accepting new patients and offers natural health-care services and whole food nutritional supplements in her Coeur d'Alene clinic.

Visit Carling's website at www.vitalhealthandfitness.com to learn more about Carling, view a list of upcoming health classes and read other informative articles. She can be reached at (208) 765-1994 and would be happy to answer any questions regarding this topic.