Massage & Chronic Tension Headaches

Acknowledgments

Financial support for this research was provided by the Boulder College of Massage Therapy.

The authors wish to acknowledge Elaine Calenda, Thomas Crown, Marjorie Johnson, Nathan Butryn, Rob Killam, and Beth Langston for their excellent massage therapy skills and the technical assistance they provided throughout this study.

Human Participant Protection

The procedures used in this study were approved by the Institutional Review Committee at the Boulder College of Massage Therapy.

Notes

All authors contributed to the experimental design of the study. C. Quinn and C. Chandler developed the massage therapy protocol for headache treatment. C. Quinn and A. Moraska analyzed and interpreted the data and wrote the article.

Peer Reviewed References

1. Lipton S. Prevention of classic migraine headache by digital massage of the superficial temporal arteries during visual aura. Ann Neurol. 1986;19:515–516. [PubMed]
2. Preyde M. Effectiveness of massage therapy for subacute low-back pain: a randomized controlled trial. CMAJ. 2000;162:1815–1820. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
3. Hernandez-Reif M, Field T, Krasnegor J, Theakston H. Lower back pain is reduced and range of motion increased after massage therapy. Int J Neurosci. 2001;106:131–145. [PubMed]
4. Sunshine W, Field T, Schanberg S, et al. Massage therapy and transcutaneous electrical stimulation effects on fibromyalgia. J Clin Rheumatol. 1997;3:18–22. [PubMed]
5. Field T, Hernandez-Reif M, Seligman S, et al. Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: benefits from massage therapy. J Pediatr Psychol. 1997;22:607–617. [PubMed]
6. Hammill JM, Cook TM, Rosecrance JC. Effectiveness of a physical therapy regimen in the treatment of tension-type headache. Headache. 1996;36:149–153. [PubMed]
7. Stone RG, Wharton RB. Simultaneous multiple-modality therapy for tension headaches and neck pain. Biomed Instrum Technol. 1997;31:259–262. [PubMed]
8. Karst M, Reinhard M, Thum P, Wiese B, Rollnik J, Fink M. Needle acupuncture in tension-type headache: a randomized, placebo-controlled study. Cephalalgia. 2001;21:637–642. [PubMed]
9. Walach H, Haeusler W, Lowes T, et al. Classical homeopathic treatment of chronic headaches. Cephalalgia. 1997;17:119–126. [PubMed]
10. Puustjarvi K, Airaksinen O, Pontinen PJ. The effects of massage in patients with chronic tension headache. Acupunct Electrother Res. 1990;15:159–162. [PubMed]
11. Schoenen J. Guidelines for trials of drug treatments in tension-type headache. First edition: International Headache Society Committee on Clinical Trials. Cephalalgia. 1995;15:165-179. [PubMed]
12. Watson DH, Trott PH. Cervical headache: an investigation of natural head posture and upper cervical flexor muscle performance. Cephalalgia. 1993;13:272–284. [PubMed]
13. Knave BG, Wibom RI, Voss M, Hedstrom LD, Bergqvist UO. Work with video display terminals among office employees, I: subjective symptoms and discomfort. Scand J Work Environ Health.1985;11:457– 466. [PubMed]
14. LaBan MM, Meerschaert JR. Computer-generated headache. Brachiocephalgia at first byte. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 1989;68:183–185. [PubMed]
15. Myers DE, McCall WD Jr. Head pain as a result of experimental ischemic exercise of the temporalis muscle. Headache. 1983;23:113–116. [PubMed]
16. Simons DG, Travell JG, Simons LS. Travell & Simons’Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual. 2nd ed. Baltimore, Md: Williams & Wilkins; 1999.
17. Mennell J. Myofascial trigger points as a cause of headaches. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 1989;12:308–313. [PubMed]
18. Olavi A, Pekka P. Effects of the electrical stimulation of myofascial trigger points with tension headache. Acupunct Electrother Res. 1992;17:285–290. [PubMed]
19. Rubin D. Myofascial trigger point syndromes: an approach to management. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1981;62:107–110. [PubMed]
20. Chaitow L, Liebenson C. Muscle Energy Techniques. New York, NY: Churchill Livingstone; 2001.
21. Hubbard DR, Berkoff GM. Myofascial trigger points show spontaneous needle EMG activity. Spine. 1993;18:1803–1807. [PubMed]
22. Davidoff RA. Trigger points and myofascial pain: toward understanding how they affect headaches. Cephalalgia. 1998;18:436–448. [PubMed]
23. Wright EF. Referred craniofacial pain patterns in patients with temporomandibular disorder. J Am Dent Assoc. 2000;131:1307–1315. [PubMed]
24. Graff-Radford SB. Regional myofascial pain syndrome and headache: principles of diagnosis and management. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2001;5:376–381. [PubMed]
25. Jensen R, Olesen J. Initiating mechanisms of experimentally induced tension-type headache. Cephalalgia. 1996;16,175–182. [PubMed]
26. Dunteman E, Turner MS, Swarm R. Pseudo-spinal headache. Reg Anesth. 1996;21:358– 360. [PubMed]
27. Bendtsen L, Jensen R. Amitriptyline reduces myofascial tenderness in patients with chronic tension-type headache. Cephalalgia. 2000;20:603–610. [PubMed]
28. Rokicki LA, Holroyd KA, France CR, Lipchik GL, France JL, Kvaal SA. Change mechanisms associated with combined relaxation/EMG biofeedback training for chronic tension headache. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 1997;22:21–41. [PubMed