Researchers say they've determined acupuncture is an effective treatment for tension headache, cutting rates for sufferers by nearly half.
The study indicates a minimal acupuncture course works nearly as well as traditional Chinese therapy.
In a randomized controlled trial, researchers in Germany divided 270 patients with a similar severity of tension headache into three groups.
During an eight week period one set of patients were treated with traditional acupuncture; a second with minimal acupuncture -- needles inserted only superficially into the skin, at non-acupuncture points -- and a third received neither treatment.
The headache rate of those receiving traditional acupuncture care was reduced by nearly half. Those receiving minimal acupuncture had 6.6 fewer days of headaches, while the control group experienced 1.5 fewer days of headaches.
Improvements to headache rates continued for months after the acupuncture treatment, although they began to rise slightly as time passed.
Link.... http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_26043.html
The study indicates a minimal acupuncture course works nearly as well as traditional Chinese therapy.
In a randomized controlled trial, researchers in Germany divided 270 patients with a similar severity of tension headache into three groups.
During an eight week period one set of patients were treated with traditional acupuncture; a second with minimal acupuncture -- needles inserted only superficially into the skin, at non-acupuncture points -- and a third received neither treatment.
The headache rate of those receiving traditional acupuncture care was reduced by nearly half. Those receiving minimal acupuncture had 6.6 fewer days of headaches, while the control group experienced 1.5 fewer days of headaches.
Improvements to headache rates continued for months after the acupuncture treatment, although they began to rise slightly as time passed.
Link.... http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_26043.html