Acupuncture effective in reducing headaches?

Tension-type headaches often present with a pressing or tightening feeling on both sides of the head with mild to moderate intensity. These headaches are not worsened by physical activity, and do not include nausea. Tension-type headaches are considered chronic when they occur at least 15 days per month.

As per a new study published in the Neurology journal, acupuncture may reduce headaches for people who have chronic tension-type headaches.

The study involved 218 people who were diagnosed with chronic tension-type headaches. They had chronic tension-type headaches for an average of 11 years and had 22 days per month with headaches on average. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either true acupuncture or superficial acupuncture.

True acupuncture treatments involved achieving a deqi sensation, which involves placing and moving a needle in the body to reach a tingling, numbness, or heaviness feeling while the superficial treatments had a lesser depth in the body to avoid achieving the deqi sensation. Both groups received two or three sessions per week, for a total of 20 sessions, for two months and were followed for an additional six months.

The main result measured in the study was a reduction of at least 50% in the number of days with headaches. At the end of the study, 68% of the people receiving true acupuncture reported at least a 50% reduction in the monthly number of headache days compared to 50% of the people who received superficial acupuncture.

Researchers found the number of monthly headache days gradually decreased after treatment, in both those who received true and superficial acupuncture treatments.

So it can be said that acupuncture may help in reducing headaches.

Reference: Can acupuncture reduce headaches? AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NEUROLOGY;JOURNA Neurology