Acupuncture for the treatment of headaches

Suffer from headaches?

Most people report daily headaches that often lead to missed work, poor sleep, and low energy.

It is time to get relief and find the root cause for the treatment of headaches.

Understanding tension headaches

Tension headaches are just that. Headaches that are triggered by muscle tension, typically in the neck and upper back that cause tight muscles to spasm. Often these headaches are not as debilitating as migraines, but they can occur much more frequently. Stress, dehydration, and poor posture are often the biggest contributing factor.

Can acupuncture help in the treatment of headaches? Let’s see what the research says

A recent study compounding on prior research shows that acupuncture combined with herbs has proven to be more effective at treating vascular headaches than drugs. The previous research studying acupuncture as a treatment for headaches concluded that acupuncture is comparable to modern drugs for treatment of migraine headache. For this study, the researchers increased the strength of the acupuncture treatment by adding herbal medicine as an adjunct to the acupuncture. Acupuncture and herbal medicine outperformed Nimodipine, a drug prescribed for frequent headaches.

Another study looking at how acupuncture could help those with primary headaches. This study used Headache Score, SF 36, to see how acupuncture can help those with headaches over time as well as quality of life. Compared with controls, patients randomized to acupuncture used “15% less medication and made 25% fewer visits to general practitioners.” This shows how simple, yet effective acupuncture can be for those with headaches.

Give our office a call today (425) 686-4498 to schedule a consult to learn how we can help fix your headaches for good!

Dr. Ellie Heintze, ND, LAc, is a naturopathic doctor and acupuncturist in Bothell, WA at her practice Starting Point Acupuncture. She specializes in chronic and complex cases and commonly treats neuropathy, fibromyalgia, migraines, autoimmune, and infertility cases. Dr. Ellie Heintze is also the author of the book, A Starting Point Guide to Going Gluten-Free  and Keep Calm and Zen Out available on Amazon.

Sources:

https://www.bmj.com/content/328/7442/744.short

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/spring09/articles/spring09pg18-19.html

https://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1342-acupuncture-herbs-best-pharmaceutical-for-headaches?highlight=WyJoZWFkYWNoZSJd