The international team of authors of a Cochrane systematic review have concluded that a course of at least six acupuncture treatments can be a valuable option for people with frequent tension headaches. They surveyed 12 trials which included 2349 patients. They drew attention to two large trials which found that acupuncture in addition to medication, resulted in 48% of patients’ headache frequency dropping by more than half; in contrast, just 17% of patients who took medication alone, experienced such an improvement.
When a comparison was made with sham acupuncture, headache frequency halved in 52% of patients receiving true acupuncture, compared with only 43% of patients receiving sham acupuncture. One high quality trial with about 400 participants, showed the benefits of true acupuncture were still present 6 months after treatment.
(Acupuncture for the prevention of tension-type headache. Cochrane Database Systematic Review, 19 April 2016.)
Author: Robin Costello
I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training.
I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.
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