Acupuncture is often used to ease discomfort from many health issues. It’s especially helpful for pain, but it’s also used for overall wellbeing and stress management. Some people, however, do have unwanted effects after a session, including headaches. In this post, Dr Jessica Braid — an acupuncturist, Chinese herbalist, and functional medicine practitioner — answers common questions about headaches after acupuncture.
Dr Jessica Braid is a co-founder of the online health platform and members-only community adio.org.
Is it normal to get a headache after acupuncture?
From thousands of acupuncture and electroacupuncture sessions, I’ve found headaches after treatment to be uncommon. They tend to occur in people with complex health issues or very low energy. For example, one migraine patient needed very gentle, modified acupuncture (only a few needles) because stronger treatments made her migraines worse.
There aren’t clinical trials that report how often headaches happen after acupuncture. Overall, acupuncture is viewed as very safe. Minor to moderate side effects occur in roughly 1 in 100 to 1 in 1,000 people, depending on the study and population. These effects usually include bruising, dizziness, or soreness where a needle was placed. Serious problems are very rare.
Theoretically, headaches are more likely if many needles are used around the head or neck, or if the practitioner only treats local points there and doesn’t use distal points (points elsewhere on the body) to move energy away from the head. Within traditional Chinese medicine, treating only local head and neck trigger points without considering the wider system is not usually recommended.
Are headaches common after acupuncture?
Some people do notice a temporary worsening of symptoms after acupuncture, including headaches. This usually settles within 48 hours, and many feel better after that. It’s more common in the first few sessions and in people who are very depleted or weakened.
In traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture clears blockages and helps energy flow through the body’s meridians. If someone is low in energy, moving that energy can make them feel tired or give them a headache. This is often fixed by using more nourishing points in later sessions. If there’s a lot of stuck energy in the head—often from long-term stress—acupuncture can bring that to light. Your practitioner can address this by using additional needles or different points to improve flow.
If you have symptoms after treatment, contact your acupuncturist so they can support you.
Why do I get a headache a day or two after acupuncture?
A headache a day or two after treatment can be an aggravation—some sensitive patients get worse before they get better. It may mean the treatment was too strong for you. Using fewer needles and a more nourishing point combination in future sessions may prevent this.
Can acupuncture make headaches worse?
Acupuncture is generally considered a helpful treatment for migraines and tension headaches, and clinical research supports its benefit. We would expect acupuncture to improve headaches rather than cause them.
More about Dr Jessica Braid
Dr Jess is an experienced acupuncturist trained in electro-acupuncture and pain management, as well as fertility, weight loss, and cosmetic acupuncture. She is an experienced herbalist trained in several systems and blends both Traditional Chinese and Western herbs. She is also a medical doctor and a certified functional medicine practitioner.
Dr Jess created the online health platform and members-only community https://adio.org/ with her sister Dr Xandra, who is a Doctor of Chiropractic.