Acupuncture can more than halve the monthly number of daily headache attacks in people with tension headaches.
This was revealed by research published in the journal Neurology and conducted by Ying Li, of the University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Chengdu.
Tension-type headache is often accompanied by a feeling of pressure or tension on both sides of the head, of mild or moderate intensity and is considered chronic when it occurs for at least 15 days a month.
"Tension-type headache is one of the most common headaches," Li said.
"Our study found that acupuncture reduces the average number of headache days per month for those struggling with these painful and annoying headache attacks."
The study involved 218 people who were diagnosed with chronic tension-type headache.
Patients had had headaches for an average of 11 years and had headaches for an average of 22 days per month.
Participants were randomly assigned to two groups, one receiving true acupuncture, the other placebo acupuncture, with needle application only superficially.
Both groups underwent two or three sessions per week, for a total of 20 sessions, for two months and were followed up for another six months.
All participants underwent clinical visits every four weeks.
They also used a headache diary to record symptoms and use of medications to manage the attacks.
The main outcome measured in the study was a reduction of at least 50% in the number of headache days (halved).
At the end of the study, 68% of people who received true acupuncture reported a reduction of at least 50% in the monthly number of headache days, compared with 50% of people who received placebo acupuncture.
The researchers found that the number of monthly headache days gradually decreased after treatment throughout the sample.
For those who received true acupuncture, headache days decreased from 20 days per month at the start of the study to seven days per month at the end of the study.
"This study showed that acupuncture can reduce headaches, but more research is needed to determine the long-term effectiveness of acupuncture and how it compares to other treatment options," Li said.
