Neck pain scores in the top three for most reported complaints of the musculoskeletal system.  More than 45 million Americans are affected with painful headaches; meanwhile, 28 million people experience migraines.

Millions of dollars are spent treating chronic neck and headache pain every year. Many sufferers seek treatment by taking pain medication to ease agony and stress. But there may be a long-term treatment option that is effective. Acupuncture, which originated in China thousands of years ago, may offer the ideal route for chronic pain sufferers.

“Acupuncture produces positive clinical results and the east and west differ in how these results are explained,” says Sher Demeter, LAc, a licensed acupuncturist and faculty clinician at the Natural Care Center at Woodwinds Clinic in Woodbury, Minn.

By inserting fine needles into different strategic points on the body, acupuncture works by doing the following:

• The Western Perspective:
  
  • Releases opiods: During treatment, endorphins (the body’s natural pain killers) may be released into your central nervous system, relieving pain.
  • Stimulates spinal cord: Acupuncture may cause nerves in the spinal cord to release neurotransmitters that cause pain relief.
  • Increases blood flow: Because of the possible increase in blood flow around the area of needle insertion, acupuncture may add nutrients and remove toxins from the body.
• Traditional Chinese Medicine or the Alternative View: Under this belief, the body is controlled by a system of meridians, which are interconnected energy pathways. These meridians produce:
• External trajectories at the site of needle insertion.
• Internal trajectories that travel to the core of the body including the organ system.

There are also variations such as electrical stimulation and heat stimulation. But the most common type of acupuncture treatment uses needles.

Spine, an international journal for the study of the spine, found evidence that acupuncture is more effective than some types of treatments for neck disorders and that acupuncture is more effective than inactive treatment. In that same study, patients who received treatment reported less neck pain during their short-term follow-up.

Studies also suggest that acupuncture may help relieve headache pain as well. The National Headache Foundation suggests acupuncture can be an effective treatment to headache pain by relieving pain and nausea, reducing the frequency of the headache, and causing a decrease in the need for treatment.

“In the treatment of headache, an acupuncturist focuses on the primary symptom of pain, but also considers this symptom in relationship to overall health patterns,” says Demeter. “By assembling a multifaceted diagnostic picture of the whole person, the acupuncturist determines the meridians that may be blocked and the acupuncture points that will help to restore the flow of energy.”

Sources: Acupuncture and Headaches, Sher Demeter, a licensed acupuncturist and faculty clinician at the Natural Care Center at Woodwinds in Woodbury, Minn; Trinh, K. (2007). Acupuncture for Neck Disorders, Spine. 32, (2), 15/1, 236-243.