The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued new guidelines for doctors on the treatment of headache. They have concluded acupuncture is effective for the prevention of both migraine and tension headaches, and for patients fitting the criteria, doctors should prescribe up to ten sessions. NICE also asserts that overuse of painkillers is one of the most common causes of headache, affecting around one in fifty individuals. The use of aspirin, paracetamol or non-steroidal anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen, for in excess of fifteen days per month, can initiate a vicious circle, where the patient takes even more medication in the mistaken belief it will help the worsening headaches.
(Headaches: Diagnosis & Management of Headaches in Young People & Adults. NICE Clinical Guidelines, CG150: September 2012.)
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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