Acupuncture and Migraines

By Bill Reddy, LAc, Dipl. Ac

Pinecrest Wellness Center

More Complementary & Integrative Healthcare Articles

Acupuncture and Migraines

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 303 million people world-wide are migraine sufferers. Usually beginning at puberty, migraines are most common for those aged between 35 and 45 years, but can trouble children and teenagers as well. European and American studies show that 6-8% of men and 15-18% of women experience migraines each year. The higher rates in women are usually a result of hormone imbalances.

The incidence of migraine headaches has increased by 50% in the past 20 years, and some researchers believe there's a genetic component. A migraine headache is a recurring, throbbing, intense pain that usually affects one side of the head suddenly and may be preceded or accompanied by visual, neurologic, or gastrointestinal symptoms. The most common cause is when arteries in the brain narrow down (constrict) and then dilate (get large). This triggers nearby pain receptors, although their reaction is not fully understood.

According to Prescription for Natural Healing, some of the natural remedies in the western world that can offer safe relief from migraines include Omega III fatty acids, magnesium, vitamin B6, probiotics (acidophilus, etc.), feverfew, ginkgo, and black cohosh. Chinese herbs have shown to reduce anxiety and stress, promote sleep and help migraine sufferers. 2

Acupuncture has been around for over 30 centuries and has long been known to resolve migraines. In Germany, acupuncture is the most commonly used preventive treatment for migraine headaches.

A critical literature review published in 2007 evaluated ten well-designed Randomized Clinical Trials involving 2015 patients. These trials consistently demonstrated that acupuncture was associated with clinically and statistically significant improvement in outcomes and that acupuncture treatment over 6 weeks had a similar efficacy compared with 24 weeks of continuous treatment with standard drug therapy. The authors concluded that acupuncture should be incorporated into existing migraine headache therapy protocols.