Real and fake acupuncture 'can effectively relieve the pain of headaches’ - The effects of acupuncture could be mostly in the mind, scientists have revealed, after finding that placing needles close to the surface of the skin and away from traditional pressure points is almost as sucessful in relieving the pain of headaches.
The alternative therapy was as good as painkillers at stopping the misery associated with a headache or migraine, a review of 33 trials involving 6,736 patients found.
But “sham” acupuncture was almost as effective, scientists found.
They believe that both contain a strong “placebo effect” which could fool patients into feeling better because they believe that they are receiving a successful treatment.
“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,” said Klaus Linde, from the Centre for Complementary Medicine Research at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, who led the review of studies.
Real and fake acupuncture 'can effectively relieve the pain of headaches' : The findings show that both types of the treatment were as powerful as drugs
The research looked at both the more frequent “tension-type” of headaches, which are considered more mild or moderate in terms of pain, and more severe but less frequent migraines.
All the patients studied had received either real or sham acupuncture for at least eight weeks as part of a trial into the treatments effectiveness.
The findings show that both types of the treatment were as powerful as drugs in relieving the pain of migraine sufferers.
Among people who had tension-type headaches real acupuncture was as effective as painkillers, the review found, and faked treatments only marginally less successful.
The researchers believe that the findings, published by the Cochrane Library, show that acupuncture could be an alternative to drugs, with fewer side effects.
But they warned that more research was needed to understand exactly how the therapy works in practice, before it could be prescribed to patients.
Dr Linde said: “Doctors need to know how long improvements associated with acupuncture will last and whether better trained acupuncturists really achieve better results than those with basic training only.” ( telegraph.co.uk )
The alternative therapy was as good as painkillers at stopping the misery associated with a headache or migraine, a review of 33 trials involving 6,736 patients found.
But “sham” acupuncture was almost as effective, scientists found.
They believe that both contain a strong “placebo effect” which could fool patients into feeling better because they believe that they are receiving a successful treatment.
“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,” said Klaus Linde, from the Centre for Complementary Medicine Research at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, who led the review of studies.
Real and fake acupuncture 'can effectively relieve the pain of headaches' : The findings show that both types of the treatment were as powerful as drugs
The research looked at both the more frequent “tension-type” of headaches, which are considered more mild or moderate in terms of pain, and more severe but less frequent migraines.
All the patients studied had received either real or sham acupuncture for at least eight weeks as part of a trial into the treatments effectiveness.
The findings show that both types of the treatment were as powerful as drugs in relieving the pain of migraine sufferers.
Among people who had tension-type headaches real acupuncture was as effective as painkillers, the review found, and faked treatments only marginally less successful.
The researchers believe that the findings, published by the Cochrane Library, show that acupuncture could be an alternative to drugs, with fewer side effects.
But they warned that more research was needed to understand exactly how the therapy works in practice, before it could be prescribed to patients.
Dr Linde said: “Doctors need to know how long improvements associated with acupuncture will last and whether better trained acupuncturists really achieve better results than those with basic training only.” ( telegraph.co.uk )
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