In the U.S., more than 38 million people suffer from migraines. Some migraine studies estimate that 13 percent of adults in the U.S. population have migraines, and 2-3 million migraine suffers are chronic.

Almost 5 million in the U.S. experience at least one migraine attack per month, while more than 11 million people blame migraines for causing moderate to severe disability.

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Because migraines strike during the most productive, working years for sufferers, the pain takes a financial toll. The World Health Organization’s disability rating for migraine, ranks migraine as the 19th most common reason for disability. Migraine sufferers use twice the amount of prescription drugs and visit doctors and emergency rooms twice as often as those who don’t have the disorder.

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The most common migraine symptoms reported by migraine sufferers are:

• Throbbing, pulsating pain — 85 percent

• Light sensitivity — 80 percent

• Sound sensitivity — 76 percent

• Nausea — 73 percent

• Pain on one side — 59 percent

• Vision changes, blurred vision — 44 percent

• Aura — 36 percent

• Vomiting — 29 percent

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Common life effects of migraine sufferers are:

• 91 percent miss work or can’t function normally during migraine attack

• More than 70 percent have a family history of migraine

• 70 percent of those in a Canadian study said migraines caused problems in their relationships

• 70 percent of all migraine sufferers are women

• 63 percent have one or more migraine attacks monthly

• 59 percent missed family or social events

• 53 percent have severe disability requiring reducing activities or bed rest

• 51 percent said migraines cut in half their work or school productivity

• 47 percent of people who have symptoms that meet the guidelines to be diagnosed with migraines thought they had a tension headache, sinus headache or another type of headache

 

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HOW CAN ACUPUNCTURE HELP?

 

Acupuncture, done regularly, reduces the frequency and severity of migraine attacks.  Every migraine sufferer is different, so first we take a complete health history and identify the patterns unique to you.  We determine the root of your bodies' imbalance.  An initial series of 8-12 treatments close together (twice a week is ideal, once per week is do-able) serves to break the imbalance.  Afterwards, depending on the progression, we can start to pare down to less frequent visits until you will come only for maintenance.  I also show you breathing exercises and other self care tips, and recommend a cortisol lowering tea so you can learn how to manage all the factors which may trigger the headaches.

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Acupuncture's success treating migraines has caught the notice of dozens of research facilities and it is often studied:

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A meta-analysis (a study that searches through recently published literature to review research trials) published in 2016 evaluated if acupuncture was as effective or more effective than other preventive treatments. The researchers evaluated 22 trials that included nearly 5,000 participants. Their findings were:

• Compared to no treatment, acupuncture was associated with a moderate reduction in migraine frequency

• Compared to sham acupuncture (using needles on random points), acupuncture provided a small but significant reduction in migraine frequency (*Please note that the "small but significant reduction was compared to the sham group - but the conclusion doesn't leave room to point out that BOTH groups showed a large reduction in frequency AND severity of migraines in all participants of both groups.  The 'real' points are slightly more effective than the 'sham' points)

• Compared to preventive medicine, acupuncture reduced migraine frequency more, although the effect wasn’t sustained (* no maintenance visits (once a month or less) or self care activities were added to this study. With those elements, my patients are seeing sustainable results); acupuncture was associated with significantly fewer side effects and patients were less likely to quit due to those side effects

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*statistics and meta analysis data from Migraine.com

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