The thousands of patients attending general practitioners, hospitals, migraine clinics and non-medical practitioners and the profusion of drug regimes and physical methods offereu, all bear witness to the fact that the treatment of migraine and other sorts of headache is unsatisfactory. That this is so is realised by the public, who have become more interested in treatments that are offered outside the medical profession. Acupuncture in this country is provided by a great many non-medically qualified persons and a few doctors of medicine. Although uncontrolled clinical studies in more than twenty thousand patients at UCLA suggest that it may be a useful form of treatment for migraine and muscle tension headaches,' it continues to be considered a "fringe technique" .2In order to assess the usefulness of acupuncture in migraine and muscle tension headaches, a trial of acupuncture and standard medical treatment was undertaken; the results are presented in this report. The purpose of treatment was to prevent migraine and headaches or to reduce their number and severity; it was not to treat the headache when it occurred.

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