A recent study showed that acupuncture either traditional
Chinese acupuncture or auricular acupuncture significantly alleviated headache
among retired Service members with traumatic brain injury. The report was
published in the journal of Medical Acupuncture.
Headache after traumatic brain injury also called
post-traumatic headache is one of the most common symptoms and 80% of the
Service members with traumatic brain injury suffered chronic or recurrent headache.
Although conventional medication is effective in relieving pain it always has
potential to produce adverse effects following long-term use.
Dr. Jonas and colleagues conducted a randomized
exploratory clinical study to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture in
patients with post-traumatic headache. The patients were randomly allocated
into three groups, one with traditional Chinese acupuncture, the 2nd
group with auricular acupuncture and the 3rd group with usual care
as a control. Ten 60-minute acupuncture sessions were applied over a 6-week
time period. Outcome measures include the Headache Impact Test (HIT), the
Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and other perimeters for sleep, depression and
anxiety and were performed before treatment (baseline) and at the end of the
treatment.
It was found that both traditional Chinese acupuncture and auricular
acupuncture significantly alleviated headache judged by the outcome measures compared
with baseline. Further, acupuncture significantly improved headache compared with
control group. There was no difference in sleep, depression and anxiety between
acupuncture and control group.
Authors suggested that acupuncture should be a part of
standard treatment for trauma spectrum response, including post-traumatic
headache.
Reference
Jonas WB et al., A
Randomized Exploratory Study to Evaluate Two Acupuncture Methods for the
Treatment of Headaches Associated with Traumatic Brain Injury. Med Acupunct.
2016 Jun 1;28(3):113-130. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4926228/
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