ACUPUNCTURE FOR HEADACHE THERAPY

Therapy for headaches with acupuncture

The first thing to do is to begin with the risk factors for one Migraine attack to prevent. If the consumption of cheese or types of wine is decisive for recurring seizures, it should definitely be avoided. The practitioner should also generally clarify where the a headache have their eventual origin. For complaints from the Cervical spine or the Shoulder muscles come, physiotherapeutic measures are recommended, e.g. Massages. Stress-induced headaches were regular Yoga exercises, Movement and autogenic training as helpful.
Medication against migraine or Tension headache often have side effects and are sometimes a source of persistent discomfort themselves. What many do not know: Regular use of pain relievers causes headaches! Anyone who takes tablets more than ten days a month or repeatedly for more than three days in a row can do the so-called drug-induced headache to get. This is usually a dull, oppressive pain that is already present when you wake up in the morning and lasts the whole day. The cause is a change in pain perception. The receptors on the nerve cells, which are constantly being acted on by drugs, react less sensitively after a while, so that the body's own pain filters are no longer properly controlled and constantly "Pain" report to consciousness. All pain relievers can lead to this type of headache. Patients who suffer from it absolutely need a specialist who can recommend the right treatment option. That is why pain medication must not be taken constantly - one of the reasons to try non-drug therapies.

For example, setting Acupuncture needles help to lengthen the time between headache attacks and make the pain more bearable. Studies show that this actually works. Obviously, it doesn't matter where and how the needles are set: Sham acupuncture helps against migraines and tension headaches as well as real acupuncture.
Headaches and migraines are among them Main indications therapeutic acupuncture. About a third of the patients treated with acupuncture in the West suffer from migraines or headaches.
The acupuncture doctor places the needles on the corresponding points on the meridians. However, it not only treats the superficial layer, i.e. the blockages of the meridians, but also takes into account the deep level of the disturbance pattern in the organs. Therapy is usually carried out twice a week. On average, around 15 treatments are required. In extreme individual cases, lasting improvement can only occur after 30 to 40 treatments. In therapy-free
At an interval of 10-14 days after the first series of treatments, a check is made to see whether the headache has improved and whether a second series of treatments makes sense. A booster treatment should be given three months after the end of therapy
be done with three to four acupuncture sessions to ensure long-term success.

Studies in Germany, England and the USA

In Germany, England and the United States Several large-scale studies have been carried out into the effects of the acupuncture for tension headaches and migraine examined. The organizers selected almost 800 patients for a controlled study on migraines. They received either regular migraine medication, one Needle acupuncture or one "Sham Acupuncture" - a sham acupuncturein which the needles were not placed on the correct points and only superficially without stimulation. After ten to fifteen sessions and six months, they suffered Acupuncture patient headaches only on 3.7 instead of six days a month. This corresponds to a decrease of 38 percent. In the personal assessment of the severity of the headache, needle acupuncture was around 22 percent less painful than the other two types of treatment. But also the Sham acupuncture showed an effect: Here the number of migraine days fell by 28 percent. Treatment with medication, mostly beta blockers, was between real and sham acupuncture with 33 percent fewer migraine days. In relation to gender, the simulated acupuncture seems to be particularly successful in women: With them, the number of migraine days fell by 30 percent, with men only by 14 percent.
Scientists still have no conclusive explanation for why sham acupuncture works so well. Possibly, they think Authors of the Munich study, it is due to the factors "Contact" and "Conversation"associated with setting the needles. The positive expectations of the patients also seem to play a role. In a review of four acupuncture studies, it was found that the more optimistic the patient, the greater the effect.
Even if needle therapy is not cheap (according to the German Medical Association for Acupuncture about 30 to 70 euros), the patient should feel better after about eight treatments. If acupuncture is successful, the headache will noticeably subside after ten to 15 treatments. The individual-specific selection of acupuncture points, a classic stitch technique with manual stimulation of the needles and the number of sessions are of considerable importance for long-term freedom from symptoms.
It should also be noted that the side effects are very low and that the therapy reaches a large group of patients.
The evaluation of the studies now clears the way for the acupuncture costs to be reimbursed by the health insurance companies.