Q: Do you experience frequent headaches?
Q: Have you been diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?
Q: Are you interested in acupuncture?
If you answered YES to these questions, you may be eligible to participate in this research study.
Participants needed for study on the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment for headaches associated with TBI
Researchers at Walter Reed Navy Military Medical Center, Fort Belvoir, and Samueli Institute are conducting a study to examine the effectiveness of two different acupuncture treatments on headaches associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Chronic, persistent or recurrent headaches are experienced by over 80% of Service Members and veterans who have been diagnosed with TBI. Treatment of these headaches is often inadequate, requires long term medical management, and may lead to medication intolerance, dependency, and side effects. There is a need for non-pharmacological approaches to the clinically challenging management of chronic, persistent and recurrent headaches that are associated with TBI.
Recent research supports acupuncture’s effectiveness in the symptomatic treatment of a variety of pain conditions including fibromyalgia, chronic back pain, knee osteoarthritis, dental pain, PTSD, labor, head trauma, and somatic and post-operative pain. Further, acupuncture shows promise as a non-pharmacological option for the management of headaches, including the prevention and treatment of migraines, tension-type headaches and chronic daily headaches.
The purpose of this study is to determine if ear acupuncture or Traditional Chinese Acupuncture (TCA) alleviates headaches more effectively than usual care alone. Eligible Service Members will be randomized to one of three groups: ear acupuncture, TCA or usual care. Those randomized to either acupuncture group will receive 10 acupuncture treatments over 6 weeks. Participants randomized to the usual care group will continue to receive their current medical regimen and will be given the option to receive 10 ear acupuncture treatments after completion of the 6-week waiting period. All participants will also be asked to complete questionnaires assessing other current symptoms.