Efficacy of craniosacral therapy in tension-type headaches in adult patients

• Authors: Karolina Domarańczyk , Aleksandra Truszczyńska-Baszak
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Introduction Headaches are a common health issue. The second most common type of headache is the tension-type headache (migraine-type headache is the most common type). Tension-type headaches are often referred to as stress-related or psychogenic headaches. Tension-type headaches often correspond with feeling unwell, and with depression or anxiety. Often they are drug resistant. This means that the treatment process may require patients to consider lifestyle changes. Patients seek other treatment types than pharmacotherapy and consider more holistic approaches, for instance natural medicine, breathing exercises or traditional Chinese medicine. The literature presents relationships between craniosacral therapy and headaches of various etiology, yet relatively few studies have been conducted on this matter. This study provides an additional insight into this therapeutic method. The aim of this study was to establish whether craniosacral therapy can reduce pain. Material and methods the study involved 30 adult patients. There were 22 women (73.3%) and 8 male patients (26.7%). Their mean age was 30.13 ± 5.33 years. The treatment used the Upledger’s 10-step protocol and sessions were performed four times within a two-week period. Results Prior to the treatment, the mean HIT-6 scale pain intensity was 62.67 ± 4.65 points. After the treatment, pain intensity reduced to a statistically significant level of 48.43 ± 9.45 points. We found that pain reduction was greater in patients with higher BMI. The gender or age of patients did not affect the results. Conclusion Craniosacral therapy is an efficient pain reduction method in patients with tension-type headaches.

Keywords

EN

headache; therapy; cephalgia; craniosacral therapy

• Journal: Advances in Rehabilitation
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 34
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 26-31

Dates

published

2020-06-18

Contributors

author

Karolina Domarańczyk

author

Aleksandra Truszczyńska-Baszak

References

• Schwartz BS, Stewart WF, Simon D. Epidemiology of tension-type headache. JAMA. 1998 Feb 4; 279(5): 381-3.
• Bendtsen L. Central sensitization in tension- type headache - possible pathophysiological mechanisms. Cephalalgia. 2000 Jun; 20(5): 486-508
• Kaniecki RG. Tension-type headache. Continuum (MinneapMinn). 2012; 18(4): 823-34. doi: 10.1212/01.CON.0000418645.32032.32
• Fumal A, Schoenen J. Tension-type headache: current research and clinical management. Lancet Neurol. 2008; 7(1): 70-83, doi: 10.1016/S1474- 4422(07)70325-3
• Arnadottir TS, Sigurdardottir AK. Is craniosacral therapy effective for migraine? Tested with HIT-6 Questionnaire. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2013 Feb; 19(1): 11-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2012.09.003. Epub 2012 Nov 9
• Keerthi R, Subhash K. Effectiveness of craniosacral therapy in cervicogenic headache. MOJ Yoga Physical Ther. 2017; 2(4): 121‒4.
• Liem T, Vogt R. Struktury powięziowe wewnątrz czaszki oraz w kanale rdzenia kręgowego et. Powięź. Badanie, profilaktyka i terapia dysfunkcji powięziowej. Edra Urban & Partner, Wrocław 2014.
• Upledger J, Vredevoogd J. Craniosacral therapy. Seattle: Eastland Press, 1983.
• Martin M, Blaisdell B, Kwong JW, Bjorner JB. The Short-Form Headache Impact Test (HIT-6) was psychometrically equivalent in nine languages. J Clin Epidemiol. 2004 Dec; 57(12): 1271-8.
• Białoszewski D, Bebelski M, Lewandowska M, Słupik A. Przydatność terapii czaszkowo-krzyżowej w leczeniu chorych z niespecyficznymi bólami dolnego odcinka kręgosłupa. Doniesienie wstępne. Ortop Traumatol Rehab. 2014; 6(16): 605-15.
• Voigt K, Liebnitzky J, Burmeister U, et al. Efficacy of osteopathic manipulative treatment of female patients with migraine: results of a randomized controlled trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2011; 17(3): 225-30.
• Hanten WP, Olson SL, Hodson JL. The effectiveness of CV-4 and resting position techniques on subjects with tension-type headaches. J Man and Manipulative Ther. 1999; 7(2): 64-70.
• Fernandez-de-las-Penas C, Alonso-Blanco C, Cuadrado ML, et al.Trigger points in the suboccipital muscles and forward head posture in tension - type headache. Headache. 2006 Mar; 46(3): 454-60.
• Mesa-Jiménez JA, Lozano-López C, Angulo-Díaz-Parreño S, et al. Multimodal manual therapy vs. pharmacological care for management of tension type headache: A meta-analysis of randomized trials. Cephalalgia. 2015 Dec; 35(14): 1323-32.
• Lozano López C, Mesa Jiménez JA, de la HozAizpurúa JL, et al. Efficacy of manual therapy in the treatment of tension-type headache. A systematic review from 2000-2013. Neurologia. 2016 Jul-Aug; 31(6): 357-69.

Identifiers

DOI

10.5114/areh.2020.96339