Category: Headaches & Migraine

A randomised, multi-centre research trial in China, has found acupuncture to be as effective as the drug flunarizine, at reducing pain and improving the quality of life for migraine sufferers. Further though, it was more effective than the drug, at reducing the number of days on which patients experienced attacks.

One hundred and forty migraine patients were randomly assigned to two groups. The first group was treated with true acupuncture plus a placebo drug, whilst the second was treated with sham acupuncture plus flunarizine, a drug commonly prescribed for migraine prevention. Both groups were given acupuncture three times per week and the drug each evening. The true acupuncture group experienced better responder rates (defined as a reduction in migraine days by at least 50%). No significant differences were observed between the two groups in improvements in pain intensity and quality of life.

(Efficacy of Acupuncture for Migraine Prophylaxis: A Single-blinded Double-dummy Randomised Controlled Trial. Pain, Aug 2011)

A pilot study carried out on American soldiers, has shown acupuncture to be beneficial for chronic headaches. Twenty-six participants suffering from chronic headache (mostly migraine), were treated using a standardised set of acupuncture points over a twelve week period.

The results showed a reduction in headache frequency and intensity, and this benefit was still apparent over a twelve week follow-up. There were also improvements in general quality of life scores, and reductions in depression and use of medication. Pain scores continued to decline until eight weeks after acupuncture treatment ended, and although they began to rise again by twelve weeks, they never reached baseline levels. The report authors contrast this with medication trials, where headaches return after cessation of treatment; they go on to suggest that monthly maintenance acupuncture treatments might help prevent this rise.

(The Effectiveness of Acupuncture for Chronic Daily Headache: An Outcomes Study. Military Medicine Dec 2009.)

In an update by Cochrane to a review originally published in 2001, eleven trials conducted across a total of 2317 patients, were examined to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture for tension headaches.

Two large trials found significant benefits associated with acupuncture as an adjunct to basic care (treatment of acute headache with painkillers): the number of headache days was reduced by at least half in 47% of patients receiving acupuncture plus basic care, compared to only 16% of the group receiving basic care alone. The authors conclude the evidence suggests acupuncture is a valuable option for patients suffering from frequent tension headaches.

(Cochrane Database Systematic Reviews,21 January 2009.)

A systematic review by American authors of 31 separate studies looking at acupuncture for chronic headache, has found that the majority of trials comparing real with sham acupuncture as a control, suggest true acupuncture is significantly more effective. This remains true at both early and late follow-up. The combined data showed acupuncture to be superior to medication for headache intensity, frequency, physical function and overall treatment response rate.

(Acupuncture for the Management of Chronic Headache: A Systematic Review. Anesthesia & Analgesia Journal, December 2008.)

A very large German study looking at headache treatment has concluded that acupuncture in addition to routine medical care for patients with primary headache (headaches not caused by any other known medical condition), is associated with significant clinical improvements over routine care alone. Of 15 056 headache patients, 1613 were randomly allocated to receive acupuncture plus their usual medical care, 1569 received only their usual care, and 11 874 who did not wish to be randomised, were also given acupuncture plus usual care.

After three months and fifteen acupuncture treatments, the number of days with headache decreased from 8.4 to 4.7 in the acupuncture group, and 8.1 to 7.5 in the control group. Intensity of pain and quality of life improvements were also more pronounced in the acupuncture group, and treatment success was maintained at six month follow-up.

(Cephalalagia Journal, 2 July 2008 – Epub ahead of print)