Two separate systematic reviews by Cochrane Researchers show acupuncture is for prevention of headaches and migraines. However the reviews show faked procedures, where needles are incorrectly inserted, may be as effective.
“Much of the clinical benefit of acupuncture might be due to non-specific needling effects and powerful placebo effects, meaning selection of specific needle points may be less important than many practitioners have traditionally argued,” says lead researcher of both studies, Klaus Linde.
Two seperate studies were done one with migraine and the other with tension type headaches. Patients treated with acupuncture over an 8 week time course, suffered fewer headaches compared to those who were given only pain killers. In the migraine study, acupuncture was superior to proven prophylactic drug treatments, but faked treatments were no less effective. In the tension headache study, true acupuncture was actually slightly more effective than faked treatments.
The results indicate that acupuncture could be used as an alternative for those patients who prefer not to use drug treatments, and additionally may result in fewer side effects. Even so some people will have mixed results and may or may not see an improvement. For me personally, I noticed worsening with acupuncture treatment due to the needles.
This article is adapated from ScienceDaily.