The JAMA Internal Medicine (Journal of the American Medical Association) has published the results of a 24 week research trial on Acupuncture for Migraines. The investigation reveals that acupuncture reduces migraine attack frequency, duration, and intensity. They compared True Acupuncture with Sham Acupuncture¹ and found only True Acupuncture provided relief. Importantly, the effects of true acupuncture provided long-term clinical benefits to migraine sufferers, including lower pain intensity levels and a shorter duration of suffering per each attack.
The researchers find that, “True acupuncture exhibited persistent, superior, and clinically relevant benefits for migraine prophylaxis, reducing the migraine frequency, number of days with migraine, and pain intensity to a greater degree than SA [sham acupuncture] or WL [wait list].” They add that acupuncture produced an additional benefit. Patients receiving true acupuncture demonstrated significant improvements in the “emotional domain of quality of life.” The research team concludes, “Acupuncture should be considered as one option for migraine prophylaxis in light of our findings.” The title of the work in JAMA Internal Medicine was entitled The long-term effect of acupuncture for migraine prophylaxis: a randomized clinical trial.
The Full article can be read on HealthCMI
You can read about what causes Headaches and Migraines from a Chinese Medicine perspective on my webpage.
¹ Sham Acupuncture is when they don’t use real acupuncture points or techniques to act as a control or test for the placebo affect. Often they needle near but not on the point, or needle so that the patient doesn’t feel any stimulation of the point.
