A Review on the Traditional Chinese Medicine Theoretical Foundations and Clinical Research Advances in Acupuncture Treatment for Migraine

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-569-0_38How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Acupuncture; Migraine; Traditional Chinese Medicine theory; Clinical research; Progress

Abstract

Migraine, as a common neurological disorder, significantly impairs patients’ quality of life. Acupuncture has been widely applied in clinical practice for migraine management and is grounded in a unique theoretical framework of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). From the TCM perspective, the etiology and pathogenesis of migraine involve both exogenous (e.g., invasion by external pathogens) and endogenous factors (e.g., internal disharmonies), closely associated with meridian circulation and the flow of Qi. Syndrome differentiation is essential to guide acupuncture point selection. In clinical research, various methodologies—including randomized controlled trials (RCTs)—have been employed to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture for migraine, primarily using headache-related symptom metrics and quality-of-life indicators as outcome measures. Accumulating evidence supports the therapeutic effectiveness of acupuncture in migraine treatment, with different acupuncture modalities and combination therapies demonstrating distinct advantages. Nevertheless, current studies exhibit limitations in the depth of TCM theoretical interpretation and methodological rigor in clinical trial design. Future research should focus on deepening the integration of TCM theory, optimizing clinical study protocols, and elucidating the underlying mechanisms of acupuncture to provide a more robust theoretical and empirical foundation for its application in migraine therapy.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Zhaoyuan Shen
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/01
TI  - A Review on the Traditional Chinese Medicine Theoretical Foundations and Clinical Research Advances in Acupuncture Treatment for Migraine
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Educational Development and Social Sciences (EDSS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 306
EP  - 313
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-569-0_38
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-569-0_38
ID  - Shen2026
ER  -