Headaches decline after acupuncture, not during
A 2008 meta-analysis of 5 RCTs (838 patients, 68% female) evaluated the effectiveness of acupuncture compared with sham acupuncture for treating episodic and chronic TTH.3 Separate data on efficacy for each subtype was not provided. Selection of acupuncture points varied among the trials, and treatment durations ranged from 3 to 8 weeks.
Headache days per month didn’t decline during treatment (WMD=−2.9; 95% CI, −7.5 to 1.6), but were significantly decreased on follow-up at 20 to 25 weeks (WMD=−1.8; 95% CI, −3.0 to −0.64).