An incredible one in 10 people around the world have migraines, with women outpacing men by three to one. Outside of the obvious head pain that accompanies this neurological condition, the uncertainty about when a migraine will attack, along with the lack of solutions, can leave sufferers frustrated.
If you feel like you’ve exhausted your options when it comes to remedying your migraines, but you haven’t yet tried acupuncture, we urge you to keep reading.
Here at Family Wellness Acupuncture, our team of certified acupuncturists understands that acupuncture has been successfully helping people who suffer from migraines for millennia.
In the following, we explore why people are coming back around to this tried-and true practice for relieving migraines.
With the birth of Western medicine, acupuncture was pushed aside as practitioners tried to figure out how to treat people with migraines. After a few centuries, not much progress has been made.
Researchers still haven’t identified the exact cause of the neurological condition, which means there’s no cure. As of now, treatment often comes down to managing symptoms with medications and instituting lifestyle changes that may prevent the headaches.
During all of this, acupuncture has quietly soldiered on, helping scores of people to break free from the prison that chronic migraines can create.
Acupuncture works in two important ways when it comes to migraines. First, it can have an immediate pain relief effect for an active migraine. This is possible because we’re able to free up the flow in your body to encourage more endorphin production, which is your body’s natural painkiller.
Second, acupuncture can help reduce the frequency of migraines by encouraging a healthy flow of energy in your body.
Since Western medicine has been unable to solve the migraine riddle, researchers have turned their focus back to what they consider “alternative” medicine. More studies are being conducted on the effect that acupuncture has on migraines, and the results are impressive.
For example, the American Migraine Foundation reports that a review of 22 clinical trials involving nearly 5,000 participants found that acupuncture reduced the frequency of migraine headaches by at least 50% among nearly 60% of participants.
Backing this up, a 24-week study of 249 participants concluded that, “Among patients with migraine without aura, true acupuncture may be associated with long-term reduction in migraine recurrence.”
Though we could cite more studies that support acupuncture as an effective treatment for migraines, we’ll stop here so that you can make an appointment and see for yourself.
To get started, please contact our Irvine, California, office today.
