Acupuncture is superior to medication therapy for headaches.

It is more effective than sham acupuncture (fake needle or placebo) in reducing headache intensity and frequency. More people respond to acupuncture than to medication. These are the conclusions of this massive, systematic review, which included 31 studies on acupuncture for chronic headache, including migraine and tension-type headache.

This high-quality study was conducted by Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, USA and published in the current issue of Anesthesia and Analgesia.