At Northeast Spine and Sports Medicine, we’re proud to offer a variety of care and treatment options to our patients that need help with headache relief. Today, there are many over-the-counter options for treating headaches, many new medications and procedures that have been shown to offer relief, and there are also trials for new treatments occurring all over the world every day.
Modern medicine has created solutions to thousands of ailments and issues that people suffer from. However, there are a handful of ancient treatments that the medical community is still happy to use over a thousand years after they were pioneered. One particularly useful ancient treatment is acupuncture.
There’s a perception that acupuncture isn’t effective when compared against modern medicine. While the evidence is somewhat inconclusive on acupuncture alone (few studies have been conducted), the studies on acupuncture used in tandem with modern medicine show it to be effective at reducing occurrences of migraines.
According to studies reviewed in June of 2016, occurrences of migraine headaches were reduced by half or more in 59% of individuals who took prescription medication and received acupuncture for six months. These statistics come from studies that included nearly 5,000 people that were surveyed over the past decade.
Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese form of medicine that dates back nearly 2,000 years. In recent years, the form of treatment has become popular all over the world for relieving pain, arthritis, assisting healing in sports injuries, treating sciatica, reducing migraines, and a number of other health benefits.
The treatment involves placing very thin needles into the skin’s surface to relieve pressure points and encourage blood flow. Exceptionally few patients report any pain at all, instead it is often described as a “tingling” sensation that many find to be relaxing. Acupuncture also has few recorded side effects, so patients typically don’t have to worry about any type of interaction with a current treatment or medication plan.
At Northeast Spine and Sports Medicine, we believe in exploring every avenue to pain relief and treatment. To learn more about every treatment we offer to reduce migraine headaches and other ailments, please browse our site, or call and schedule an appointment at one of our offices.
