Using Acupuncture to Relieve Headaches

Sarah: Hi! My name is Sarah from Dallas, Texas. Someone recently suggested I try acupuncture for my migraines. I don’t understand how that works. Can you explain it to me?

Wade Cooper: Well, sure Sarah. Acupuncture is a common thing we get asked about at the University of Michigan Center for Head Pain. When it comes to acupuncture, it could be very effective for some people and it actually has very minimal risk or very little discomfort associated with it.

The first thing I tell people about acupuncture if they choose to do that, the pins they use are much smaller than any pin we use to draw blood from. I have had no patients describing me pain or being uncomfortable to pursue acupuncture but the answer to your question, “How does it work?” the simple answer is that when you provide pin stimulus to the area you’re providing acupuncture to, it interrupts the way that nerve sends pain information into the brain. It’s like shutting a gate of pain if you will and even though that might be the area you feel pain in, those impulses that are then silence from acupuncture could help suppress pain that the brain’s experiencing.


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