A one year randomised controlled trial was conducted, comparing acupuncture with no acupuncture for chronic headaches. A total of 401 patients aged 18-64 experiencing chronic headaches, predominantly migraine, were enrolled. Patients were drawn from GP practices and randomly allocated to receive up to twelve acupuncture treatments over three months.
Those in the acupuncture group reported 22 fewer days with headache in the year and used 15% less medication. They also made 25% fewer visits to their GP, and had 15% fewer days off sick than their counterparts given the usual care. The researchers concluded that acupuncture leads to lasting benefits for patients with chronic headache, particularly migraine, and that an expansion of NHS acupuncture services should be considered.
(Acupuncture for chronic headache in primary care: large, pragmatic, randomised trial. British Medical Journal, 25 March 2004.)
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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