Researchers have found acupuncture to be a useful, inexpensive and effective form of treatment for people who suffer from chronic or migraine headaches.

Studies have shown acupuncture to work better than conventional treatments alone and result in fewer headaches. Participants of the study included 401 patients from England and Wales who suffered from several headaches each week.

One group received acupuncture plus standard treatment and the other received normal therapy alone. The patients who received acupuncture plus standard treatment were administered 12 treatments over the course of three months.

Results of the study concluded the patients receiving acupuncture experienced 22 fewer days of headaches per year, took 15 percent less medication and saw their doctors 25 percent less than the other group.

Also, acupuncture decreased the severity and frequency of headaches in those who experienced severe headaches.

Acupuncture treatment involves the insertion of extremely fine needles into the skin at precise points in the body. It has been shown to help with nausea and pain and has been known to help women undergoing fertility treatments to conceive.

British Medical Journal March 15, 2004 (Free Full-Text Article)

Dr. Mercola's Comment: Headaches are so common that the United States forks out over $1 billion every year to get relief from migraines. This is just the cost for treatment and doesnt include costs lost due to the result of the debilitating effects such as lost workdays and reduced employee productivity.

It never ceases to amaze me how effective the nutrition plan is at controlling the vast majority of headaches, especially severe migraines.

In my experience, over 75 percent of people show remarkable improvement with their headaches once they modify their diet and begin following the plan. The wonderful thing is the headache relief comes quickly, usually occurring in the first couple of days. This is especially comforting information for those suffering from migraines who want instant relief, the sooner the better.

The nutrition plan virtually eliminates all common food-related causes of headaches. Perhaps the most important one is the major challenges that most people have with insulin shifts. This rapidly resolves once grains and sugars are removed from the diet.

It is important to remember when first starting the program to eat every two hours while you are awake, otherwise you may risk the chance of worse headaches due to hypoglycemic episodes.

Psychological acupuncture approaches are also incredibly effective in treating headaches and I recommend this free manual to introduce you to the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which involves tapping on specific energy meridians and has been incredibly successful in providing permanent relief to many of my patients.

This technique is similar to acupuncture in that it deals with your bodys energy meridians, however is less invasive since it doesnt involve the use of needles and for mild conditions can be performed without going to see a practitioner. The importance of emotional health is often overlooked and I cant express how critical it is to maintaining your physical health.

From Mercola.com.