Doctors Discover That Acupuncture Can Significantly Reduce Chronic Headaches

Whether Acupuncture helps lessen headaches is the subject of a recent research. A research that was just released in Neurology, the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology, suggests that  may lessen the discomfort experienced by those who suffer from chronic tension-type headaches. Mild to moderately severe pressing or tightening sensations on both sides of the head are the most typical symptom of tension-type headaches. These headaches do not worsen with exertion and do not accompany nausea. Chronic tension-type headaches occur when they occur at least 15 days a month.

The study’s lead author, Ying Li, MD, Ph.D., of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Chengdu, China, stated that tension-type headaches are among the most prevalent forms of headaches and that those who have them frequently may be searching for non-pharmacological treatments. According to our research, Acupuncture helps those who have these excruciating and disruptive headache assaults by lowering their average monthly headache days.

The study included 218 people who had been diagnosed with persistent tension-type headaches. They experienced tension-type headaches on average 22 days a month for an average of 11 years. Participants were randomly assigned to either true Acupuncture or superficial. In order to generate a tingling, numbness, or heaviness sensation in the body during a true  treatment, a needle has to be inserted and moved about inside the body. The bodily penetration of the superficial treatments was shallower in order to avoid triggering the deqi sensation. Over the course of two months, both groups received two or three sessions each week for a total of 20 sessions, following which they were monitored for an additional six months.

At the conclusion of the trial, 68 percent of those getting real Acupuncture compared to 50% of those receiving superficial reported a monthly headache decrease of at least 50%. In both individuals who received genuine treatments and those who just received superficial treatments, researchers discovered that the number of monthly headache days steadily dropped following treatment. True Acupuncture patients saw a reduction in headache days from 20 per month at the start of the research to 7 per month by the conclusion. The number of headache days for individuals who underwent superficial fell from 23 per month at the start of the trial to 12 per month at its conclusion.