If you get migraines, don’t miss the point: Acupuncture may help relieve symptoms and prevent attacks as well as - or maybe even better than - conventional painkillers.

After 8 weeks of treatment, patients in a study who took no pain meds but received acupuncture actually suffered fewer migraine symptoms than the group of patients who took only painkillers.

The thing is, “fake” acupuncture seemed to work just as well!

“Ooo,” needle-phobic migraneurs may be thinking, “can I do acupuncture without getting poked?”

Well, even fake or so-called “sham” acupuncture involves needles being poked into your skin.

Within the healthcare community, the effectiveness of acupuncture as a means of migraine relief remains controversial. And within the acupuncture community, there is controversy about the effectiveness of real “true” acupuncture versus what is considered “fake” or placebo acupuncture.

You see, acupuncture is an ancient therapy that involves the insertion of needles at particular points on the body. These acupuncture points lay along channels called meridians through which the life force, or Qi, is said to flow.

But some modern acupuncturists believe that positive therapeutic results are also possible if needles are inserted in places on the body other than the usual meridian points. This seems to be the conclusion of the Cochrane Collaboration, as well, after an extensive review of recent research and clinical trials into migraine and tension headache relief.

Whether it’s real or placebo acupuncture, in the midst of a really vicious migraine attack, I’d bet most folks would forget their fear of needles anyway!

For more about the history and mechanics of acupuncture, keep reading here.

For more information on migraines, check out this factsheet.

The Cochrane Collaboration is an international not-for-profit organization made up mostly of healthcare professionals who volunteer their time to review research about the effects of healthcare.