J Tradit Chin Med. 1997 Jun; 17(2): 130-9.

Does psychological testing help to predict the response to acupuncture or massage/relaxation therapy in patients presenting to a general neurology clinic with headache?

Wylie KR, Jackson C, Crawford PM.

Department of Neuropsychiatry, Bootham Park Hospital, York, U.K.

Patients with chronic headache were offered treatment by acupuncture or massage with relaxation instead of a change in their prescribed medication. They were randomly allocated to either treatment. There was a significant improvement in pain ratings with both treatment types. Specifically a greater effect was seen in migraine patients treated by massage with relaxation when compared to acupuncture. No psychological factors were found to predict response to either treatment. At the end of the study, 13% of patients were significantly more worried that there may be a more serious cause underlying their headache despite reassurance and an improvement in their headache scores.