Here is a selection of research on the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating headaches.

In a 2005 randomized trial, Linde et al studied the effects of acupuncture, sham acupuncture and a control on 302 patients with migraine headaches. The study found the acupuncture and sham acupuncture produced a greater reduction in moderate to severe headaches.

A study by Hansen & Hansen in 1985 showed that classical Chinese acupuncture was more effective than the sham acupuncture placebo in relieving headaches.

A study by Vincent in 1989 found that acupuncture was more effective than the sham acupuncture placebo in treating chronic migraine headaches.

A systematic review by Melchart et al in 2001 included, among others, 16 trials comparing acupuncture to sham acupuncture. The review found that true acupuncture was reported to be significantly superior to sham acupuncture.

A 2004 systematic review conducted by Dr. Trinh of McMaster University showed strong evidence to support the treatment of lateral epicondyle pain with acupuncture.  The systematic review included 6 high quality studies.  All studies showed that acupuncture provided relief for lateral epicondyle pain.  Five of the six studies showed that acupuncture was more effective than the control.

Tennis Elbow

These days the average person that has tennis elbow doesn’t even play tennis.  What used to be a term reserved for athletes can now be achieved by painting too many coats of paint on your wall, typing on your computer, and other non grand slam activities.  If you are feeling pain in your outer elbow that gets worse with pressure or use (typing, stretching, holding or gripping), then you may have tennis elbow even if you don’t know what 30 love means.

Tennis elbow or lateral epicondilytis refers to  pain on the outside of the elbow.   The syndrome is typically a tendinitis or overuse injury whereby the insertion of the the wrist extensor muscles (the muscles that bring the back of your hand towards your body) becomes inflamed. Typically the inflammation leads to the formation of fascial scar tissue which attempts to heal and strengthen the injured area, but instead often ends up forming a thick inflexible mass that glues the injured tendon to the surrounding tendons.  When these tendons become stuck together movement of the wrist becomes painful.

There are other factors related to tennis elbow.  The term tennis elbow originated from the frequency of this injury among tennis players.  As you can imagine, in tennis a backhand puts a lot of stress on the wrist extensors which can become fatigued easily.  It is the constant repetitive use of muscles that tires the muscles to the point that they become inflamed.  Tennis elbow is quite common for office workers because of the use of the computer and the the continuous strain that typing puts on the wrist extensor muscles.

Often in tennis elbow injuries, there is also the presence of a nerve impingement called thoracic outlet syndrome.  With the nerve supply for the wrist extensor muscles being decreased, the health of the muscle deteriorates to the point that it becomes more susceptible to injury from something as simple as typing.  This is why it’s important when treating tennis elbow to also look for the presence of thoracic outlet syndrome.

Research has shown that tennis elbow can be healed through regular massage, fascial release, stretching and acupuncture.

A 1997 study conducted by the University of Manchester appeared in Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice Volume 39, Issue 2, February 1998, Pages 115-121.

The study followed 46 diabetic patients with chronic painful peripheral neuropathy and studied the long term effects of acupuncture.  63% of the patients were already following the standard medical treatment for painful neuropathy.  Patients received 6 treatments of acupuncture over 10 weeks.  By the end of the study, 77% showed significant improvement in their symptoms.  After the study, the patients were followed for another year, during which 67% were able to stop or reduce their medications significantly.  21% noted that their symptoms had cleared completely.