Share to ClassroomEar Acupuncture Fails to Beat Placebo
Researchers in Brazil have tested whether acupuncture on the ear can reduce migraine pain. Acupuncture is a treatment that uses very thin needles. The study included 68 women with chronic migraine. Half received needles in the outer ear. The other half received a placebo, a fake treatment used for comparison. Both groups had one session a week for eight weeks. Pain fell by about 11 percent after treatment, and by 18 percent a month later. But the placebo group improved by a similar amount. The difference between the two groups was too small to be important.
A migraine is much more than a bad headache. The pain often beats on one side of the head. People feel sick, and light and sound become painful. Doctors now know that certain nerves in the head release a chemical that switches on pain. An attack can last up to 72 hours. Women get migraines at least twice as often as men.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says migraine is one of the ten most disabling illnesses in the world. New drugs have changed treatment in the past five years, but they are expensive and hard to get. Experts say ear treatment should be used together with these drugs, not instead of them.
