Acupuncture for Headaches and Migraines

Regular headaches and migraines can take whole days away from work, family and the things you enjoy. Acupuncture is one of the few complementary treatments NICE recommends: a course can reduce how often migraines and tension headaches happen. Our practitioners have been treating headaches in London for 25 years.

Book an initial consultation or call 0207 935 2030 for a free 15-minute chat.

What causes headaches and migraines?

Tension-type headaches are the most common kind, often felt as a tight band around the head and linked to stress, posture, poor sleep and neck tension. Migraines are a neurological condition, with throbbing pain usually on one side, often with nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and sometimes visual “aura”. Triggers vary and can include hormones, missed meals, alcohol, stress and changes in sleep. Many women notice migraines around their period; read more on our menstrual problems page.

Taking painkillers on many days a month can itself cause more frequent headaches. Get urgent help for a sudden, severe “worst ever” headache, or headache with a stiff neck, fever, confusion, weakness, slurred speech or after a head injury. See your GP about a new headache pattern if you’re over 50.

How acupuncture can help

A course of acupuncture can reduce how often you get migraines or tension headaches, and many patients also find attacks are less severe when they do happen. It works well alongside keeping a headache diary and dealing with triggers such as sleep, stress and neck tension.

We tailor treatment to your headache type and pattern, including headaches linked to your menstrual cycle and those driven by stress and anxiety. If your headaches change or worsen, we’ll tell you honestly and suggest you see your GP.

Researchers think acupuncture works partly by changing how nerves and the brain process pain signals, including the release of the body’s own pain-relieving chemicals. The exact mechanisms are still being studied.

What the research shows

• Linde et al., 2016 (Cochrane review, migraine) — 22 trials and 4,985 people. Migraine frequency at least halved in 41 of 100 people having acupuncture, compared with 17 of 100 having usual care alone.
• Linde et al., 2016 (Cochrane review, tension-type headache) — 12 trials and 2,349 people. Headache frequency at least halved in 48 of 100 people having acupuncture, compared with 17 of 100 having usual care, and acupuncture beat sham.
• Xu et al., 2020 (BMJ) — 150 people with migraine. Twenty sessions of acupuncture cut migraine days more than both sham and usual care, with the benefit still there five months after starting.

Results vary between people, and acupuncture is not a replacement for medical assessment.

What to expect

Your first appointment lasts an hour. We take a full history of your headaches, look at any headache diary, scans or letters you bring, and agree a plan with you. Treatment uses very fine, single-use needles in the head, neck, hands and feet, left in for 15 to 20 minutes. Where suitable we may add cupping or a heat lamp for neck and shoulder tension.

Most people start with weekly sessions and we review progress together after six. NICE suggests up to 10 sessions over 5 to 8 weeks. Initial consultations start from £80; see clinics and fees for details.

Why The London Acupuncture Clinic

• 25 years treating patients in London
• Degree-qualified practitioners who work alongside GPs and consultants, with close links to physiotherapists and chiropractors
• Open seven days a week, with early-morning and evening appointments
• Receipts for insurance claims on request

What our patients say

“I can honestly say the treatments I have received have had an enormous effect on the severity and frequency of attacks… I now have a life without the constant fear of attack.” — N.E., Google review