NCT01790074

Trigger Point Therapy in Cervicogenic Headache

MANUAL TREATMENT OF ACTIVE TRIGGER POINTS IN THE STERNOCLEIDOMASTOID MUSCLE IN PATIENTS WITH CERVICOGENIC HEADACHE: A PILOT RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (actual)
• Sponsor: César Fernández-de-las-Peñas · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 55 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

It is a pilot randomized controlled trial comparing real and simulated manual treatment of trigger points (TrPs) in patients with cervicogenic headache (CeH). The purpose of the current randomized clinical pilot trial was to determine the preliminary effects of TrP manual therapy in individuals with CeH with sternocleidomastoid muscle active TrPs as compared to manual contact over the muscle tissues.

Detailed description

CeH pain has been mostly related to joint, disk and ligament pain from the upper cervical spine; however, clinicians should consider that the upper cervical spine also receives afferent inputs from muscles. In fact, the role of referred pain to the head elicited by muscle TrPs has received particular interest in recent years. No study has investigated the effectiveness of TrP manual therapy in patients with CeH exhibiting active TrPs. Investigators hypothesized that patients receiving a real TrP treatment will exhibit a greater reduction in pain, sensitivity, cervical range of motion and neck endurance than those receiving a manual control non-therapeutic intervention.

Conditions

• Cervicogenic Headache

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	TrP therapy	TrP manual therapy comprises different manual approaches, e.g., compression, stretching, or transverse friction massage applied over active TrPs in the sternocleidomastoid muscle
OTHER	TrP manual control therapy	The treatment consisted of a simulation of the same TrP therapy treatment applied to the experimental group without the application of any therapeutic pressure.

Timeline

• Start date: 2010-10-01
• Primary completion: 2011-12-01
• Completion: 2011-12-01
• First posted: 2013-02-13
• Last updated: 2013-02-13

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Spain