1. INTRODUCTION
Headache is one of the most common diseases in the field of acupuncture.
Acupuncture is more effective in reducing the number of headache days in
episodic migraine and tension-type headache as compared to
pharmacotherapy and sham acupuncture.1,2 The Clinical
Practice Guideline for Chronic Headache 2013 recommended acupuncture as
the preferred physical therapy among non-pharmacological therapies for
managing primary headaches (Grade B).3 Our experience
with acupuncture for managing headaches based on this guideline has been
successful.4 In addition, acupuncture is reportedly
more effective for managing secondary headaches, such as medication
overuse headache (MOH).5 Thus, acupuncture has been
shown to be effective for headaches and according to the current
clinical practice guidelines, acupuncturists are members of the medical
care team. However, their role remains unclear.
We report the intervention of an acupuncturist for MOH in a patient with
myasthenia gravis (MG), with successful management of the headache and
discontinuation of the inappropriate use of an over-the-counter (OTC)
analgesic. We highlight the role of acupuncturists in medical care teams
for managing headaches.