Acupuncture versus medical treatment for migraine and muscle tension headaches.

Abstract

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.

The Effects of Laser Acupuncture on Chronic Tension Headache – a Randomised Controlled Trial

“…3 They concluded that the evidence supports the role of acupuncture for the treatment of idiopathic headaches but is not conclusive. While some researchers recommended that acupuncture is valuable for various types of headache, including tension type and migraine, [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] others failed to demonstrate clinically significant differences. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Factors which make the practice of acupuncture unlikely to be acceptable to certain medical communities include the possibility of transmitting infection, the risk of visceral trauma, particularly pneumothorax, and the invasive nature of the practice in general.…”

“…2 The effects of acupuncture on various types of headache have been studied widely. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] In a Cochrane review, Melchart et al compared the effectiveness of acupuncture with 'sham' (placebo) acupuncture and other interventions used to treat idiopathic (primary) headaches including tensiontype headache. 3 They concluded that the evidence supports the role of acupuncture for the treatment of idiopathic headaches but is not conclusive.…”

Acupuncture for Chronic Pain: A Review

“…Comparisons of acupuncture with transculaneous nerve stimulalion (TENS) carried out by Laitinen (53), and by Fox and Melzack (54) showed no significant differences in pain relief for low back pain. Loh et al (55), showed acupuncture to be lletter than o(hodox treatment in migraine and tension headaches whilst CLrnn et al (56) have demonstrated acupuncture to be superior to standard therapy In low back pain-This is not substantiated by Ahonen et al (57).…”

Akupunktur bei Kopfschmerz

“…Die analgetische Wirkung der Akupunktur kann sich auch bei Kopfschmerzen organischer Ursache auswirken [20] und dann dazu führen, daß kostbare Zeit verlorengeht und wichtige diagnostische Schritte unterlassen werden.…”