Acupuncture beats aspirin for chronic headaches

Acupuncture is found to work better than drugs like aspirin to reduce the severity and frequency of chronic headaches. A team at Duke University recently reviewed studies involving nearly 4,000 patients with migraine, tension headache and other forms of chronic headache and found that 62 percent of the acupuncture patients reported headache relief compared to 45 percent of people taking medications.

Acupuncture works by triggering the release of the body’s natural painkillers without the side effects of drugs. Common side effects of Aspirin include heartburn, nausea and upset stomach. Chinese Medicine is also much more nuanced in its diagnosis of headaches. We don’t treat it with a one-size-fits-all pill. We treat headaches differently depending on what area of the head, whether the pain is sharp or dull, and other accompanying signs and symptoms. This is why Acupuncture, combined with Chinese herbal medicine is so effective.

Other studies have shown that acupuncture helped alleviate pain in patients who had surgery for head and neck cancer, can relieve hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms and can reduce chemotherapy-induced nausea.

Link to full article at Reuters: Acupuncture Beats Aspirin for Chronic Headache