Acupuncture has proven to aid in many bodily ailments, including back pain, weight loss and even depression. Now, you can add tension headaches to this growing list. Acupuncture for tension headaches is an alternative treatment method to get rid of stubborn headaches that reduce your quality of life.
Acupuncture for Tension Headaches
German researchers tested acupuncture on 270 adults with tension headaches. Some patients received traditional acupuncture while the others got minimal acupuncture as the needles were only superficially placed at non-acupuncture points. A third group went on a wait list for acupuncture.
Both of the acupuncture groups had similar drops on their headaches, with the benefits lasting for months even after the treatments stopped. The two methods used might have been equally effective, or maybe the high hopes of the patients played a role.
The study was reported in BMJ Online First.
Who were the Participants?
Many people signed up for the study, with the researchers receiving about 2,700 applicants. In the end, they selected only 270. About three-fourths of the chosen participants were women with an average age of 43 years old. Some experienced tension headaches for more than 15 days in a month, while others had less. None of them suffer from migraines. Both acupuncture groups received sixteen 30-minute sessions over a 12-week period. The wait-listed group received acupuncture three months after the other patients. All the patients kept headache diaries.
What are the Results?
The headache-free days improved among the acupuncture groups during the first 12 weeks. Those who went through traditional acupuncture had 7.2 more headache-free days; minimal acupuncture had 6.6 more headache-free days; and wait list had 1.5 more headache-free days. The study lasted another 12 weeks with some patients still experiencing less headaches, even after the acupuncture treatments stopped. When the wait-listed patients finally got acupuncture treatment, they experienced fewer headaches than before, although their improvements were not as dramatic as the first groups.
Conclusions
The researchers are not sure if the results were due to acupuncture or if it was brought about by the high expectations of the patients, but the results seem to indicate that acupuncture did play a role in headache relief.
Acupuncture for tension headaches can open the way to natural relaxation and better health. If you get tension headaches that are affecting your daily life, please talk to an acupuncture practitioner to see if is right for you.
