Effect of acupressure and trigger points in treating headache: a randomized controlled trial

The American Journal of Chinese Medicine
Lisa Li-Chen HsiehAmy Ming-Fang Yen

Abstract

The efficacy of acupressure in relieving pain has been documented; however, its effectiveness for chronic headache compared to the muscle relaxant medication has not yet been elucidated. To address this, a randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted in a medical center in Southern Taiwan in 2003. Twenty-eight patients suffering chronic headache were randomly assigned to the acupressure group (n = 14) or the muscle relaxant medication group (n = 14). Outcome measures regarding self-appraised pain scores (measured on a visual analogue scale; VAS) and ratings of how headaches affected life quality were recorded at baseline, 1 month after treatment, and at a 6-month follow-up. Pain areas were recorded in order to establish trigger points. Results showed that mean scores on the VAS at post-treatment assessment were significantly lower in the acupressure group (32.9+/-26.0) than in the muscle relaxant medication group (55.7+/-28.7) (p = 0.047). The superiority of acupressure over muscle relaxant medication remained at 6-month follow-up assessments (p = 0.002). The quality of life ratings related to headache showed similar differences between the two groups in the post treatment and at six-month assessments. Trigger points BL2...Continue Reading

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Citations

Oct 11, 2011·BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine·Nicola RobinsonXing Liao
May 27, 2014·Neurología : publicación oficial de la Sociedad Española de Neurología·C Lozano LópezC Fernández de Las Peñas
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Jun 28, 2017·Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine : Official Journal of the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine·Aleksandra K MącznikS John Sullivan
Apr 15, 2018·Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies·Xianmin Yu, Alan Salmoni

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