Auriculotherapy for a migraine patient. Credit: Fernanda Belle
Acupuncture to the ear may help lessen pain from migraines and their impact on daily life, according to new research presented today (Friday) at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Forum 2026.
A randomized clinical trial of the treatment, called auriculotherapy, found that migraines were less painful immediately after the treatment and 30 days later, compared with the pain experienced before treatment. The impact of migraines on daily life also improved.
In addition, the researchers, led by Fernanda Belle, a physiotherapist in the Experimental Neuroscience laboratory at the University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL), Palhoça, Brazil, observed changes in oxygenation levels in the prefrontal cortex of the brain over the course of the study, as measured by hemoencephalography (HEG), which is a noninvasive technology using near-infrared spectroscopy to measure blood flow in the brain and is an indirect measure of neural activity.
However, although these were all statistically significant improvements when comparing the 68 women in the trial before and after the treatment, there was no statistically significant difference between the 34 women receiving auriculotherapy and the 34 who received the sham treatment.
