Acupuncture is a useful, cost-effective treatment for chronic headaches or migraines, U.S. and U.K. researchers have found.
In one of the largest randomized studies to assess the effectiveness of the ancient Chinese treatment, scientists found it worked better than just conventional treatments alone.
“People using acupuncture had fewer headaches, less severe headaches and they used less health resources over the course of the following year,” Dr Andrew Vickers, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said in an interview.
The scientists compared acupuncture plus standard treatment to standard treatment alone in 401 patients in England and Wales who suffered from headaches several days each week. Most patients in the trial had migraines.
Acupuncture was first used in China about 2,000 years ago, according to Vickers. It involves inserting very fine needles into the skin at specific points in the body. It is one of the most popular forms of complementary medicine and has been shown to relieve nausea and pain.
German researchers have also said it could help women undergoing fertility treatment to conceive.