Headaches and migraines can be more than just a nuisance—they can disrupt your entire day, making it hard to focus, work, or even enjoy time with family and friends. While medications can help, they don’t work for everyone and often come with side effects…then they wear off and its back to the drawing board again. This “rinse and repeat” pattern of trying pill after pill is why many people are turning to acupuncture, a time-tested therapy backed by modern science, for relief and long term results.

Acupuncture for Tension Headaches

Tension headaches, which cause a dull, aching pain and tightness in the head and neck, are among the most common types of headaches. Research supports acupuncture as an effective treatment. A systematic review by Linde et al. (2016) found that acupuncture significantly reduced headache frequency and the need for medication compared to standard care or sham (aka placebo) acupuncture.

Another study by Melchart et al. (2005) showed that acupuncture helped decrease both the intensity and duration of tension headaches. By addressing muscle tension, improving circulation, and modulating pain pathways, acupuncture provides long-lasting relief for tension headache sufferers.

Acupuncture for Migraines

Migraines are more severe than regular headaches and often come with nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and even visual disturbances. Acupuncture has been found to reduce migraine frequency and severity. A Cochrane review by Linde et al. (2016) concluded that acupuncture is as effective as conventional migraine medications—but with fewer side effects.

A large clinical trial by Diener et al. (2006) compared acupuncture to standard migraine medication and found that acupuncture provided greater symptom relief, with benefits lasting for months after treatment.

Acupuncture in Medical Guidelines

Because of its strong track record, acupuncture is now recognized as a recommended treatment for headaches and migraines by major medical organizations, including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the American Migraine Foundation. These organizations acknowledge acupuncture as a safe, effective, and drug-free option for reducing headache frequency and severity (NICE, 2021).

How Acupuncture Works for Headaches and Migraines

Acupuncture helps relieve headaches and migraines by:

• Modulating pain signals in the nervous system, reducing overall pain perception.
• Releasing endorphins and serotonin, which promote relaxation and pain relief.
• Improving blood circulation in the head and neck, reducing muscle tension and inflammation.
• Regulating the body’s stress response, a key trigger for both tension headaches and migraines.

References

• Diener, H. C., Kronfeld, K., Boewing, G., Lungenhausen, M., Maier, C., Molsberger, A., & Zenz, M. (2006). Efficacy of acupuncture for the prophylaxis of migraine: A multicentre randomised controlled clinical trial. The Lancet Neurology, 5(4), 310-316. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(06)70382-9
• Linde, K., Allais, G., Brinkhaus, B., Fei, Y., Mehring, M., Shin, B. C., … & Vickers, A. (2016). Acupuncture for the prevention of tension-type headache. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 4, CD007587. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD007587.pub2
• Melchart, D., Linde, K., Fischer, P., Berman, B., White, A., Vickers, A., & Allais, G. (2005). Acupuncture for recurrent headaches: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Cephalalgia, 19(9), 779-786. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1468-2982.1999.1909779.x
• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). (2021). Headaches: Diagnosis and management of headaches in young people and adults. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg150