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R
E S E A R C H
Massage Reduces
Headache Frequency
Massage significantly
reduced the number of headaches experienced by people with chronic
tension headaches, and decreased the duration of the headaches,
according to a recent study.
"Massage Therapy and Frequency
of Chronic Tension Headaches" was conducted by Christopher
Quinn, Clint Chandler and Albert Moraska, Ph.D., of the Boulder
College of Massage Therapy in Boulder, Colorado.
Four people who had experienced two
to three headaches per week for the past six years or more participated
in the study, which lasted eight weeks. During the first four weeks,
baseline headache measures were recorded. Throughout the last four
weeks, participants received two 30-minute massages per week.
A standardized massage protocol was
used, consisting of six phases that fit in the 30-minute time period:
preparatory tissue warm-up (three minutes), myofascial release (five
minutes), axial cervical traction (two minutes), trigger-point therapy
(15 minutes), facilitated stretching (five minutes) and session
closure (three to five minutes).
The trigger-point therapy, which made
up the bulk of the routine, consisted of scanning palpation of the
upper trapezius, sternocleidomastoid, suboccipital, splenius capitis,
levator scapulae and temporalis muscles.
"When located, active trigger points
were treated by pincer or flat palpation with just enough pressure
to elicit referred pain or autonomic referral phenomena," state
the study's authors.
The pressure was maintained until the
referral pain ceased, or for a maximum of two minutes, then slowly
eased to produce a vascular flushing. In a typical session, six
active trigger points were treated, and the procedure was repeated
three to five times on each point.
Every night before bed participants
completed a headache diary form, recording number of headaches,
intensity of most severe headache, and duration of longest headache.
Each subject experienced a reduction
in headaches within the first week of massage treatment, and the
mean number of headaches per week was significantly reduced from
6.8 to 2 during the four weeks of massage.
"Because our therapeutic massage
protocol specifically addressed trigger-point activity, we believe
that the reduction in activity of these regions by massage was a
major contributor to the observed beneficial effects on tension
headache," state the study's authors.
Although duration of headache decreased
for all four subjects, the decrease was not statistically significant,
and there was no significant change in headache intensity.
"The findings suggest that a larger,
more complete study that includes a proper control group is warranted,"
state the study's authors.
- Source: Boulder College
of Massage Therapy. Authors: Christopher Quinn, Clint Chandler and
Albert Moraska, Ph.D. Originally published in American Journal of
Public Health, October 2002, Vol. 92, No. 10, pp. 1,657-1,661.
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