Headaches and Migraines

Frequent headaches and migraines are debilitating. They keep you from being productive at work and prevent you from being able to do the things you love. Several large well-conducted clinical trials have demonstrated that acupuncture is an effective treatment to reduce the frequency of headaches and migraines. 

A 2017 randomized control trial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that true acupuncture (in comparison to sham acupuncture which acts as a placebo in the trial) was associated with long term reduction in frequency of migraines. [1] 

The 2016 Cochrane review, Acupuncture for the prevention of episodic migraine, supported the use of acupuncture for reduction in migraine frequency. The systematic review confirmed that acupuncture was more effective than a placebo in the treatment of migraines and that acupuncture was at least as effective as conventional preventative drug treatment. Cochrane reviews are considered the gold-standard in evidence-based healthcare. [2]

The 2016 Cochrane review, Acupuncture for the prevention of tension-type headache, concluded that acupuncture is effective for treating episodic or chronic tension-type headaches. The "proportion of participants experiencing at least 50% reduction of headache frequency was much higher in groups receiving acupuncture than in control groups". [3]

1. ​Ling Zhao, PhD1; Jiao Chen, PhD1; Ying Li, PhD1; et al​. The Long-term Effect of Acupuncture for Migraine ProphylaxisA Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2017;177(4):508-515. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.9378
2. Linde K1, Allais G, Brinkhaus B, Fei Y, Mehring M, Vertosick EA, Vickers A, White AR. Acupuncture for the prevention of episodic migraine. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Jun 28;(6):CD001218. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001218.pub3
3. Linde K1, Allais G, Brinkhaus B, Fei Y, Mehring M, Shin BC, Vickers A, White AR. Acupuncture for the prevention of tension-type headache. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Apr 19;4:CD007587. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007587.pub2.

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