189 Comparison of Traditional Therapy Versus Biofeedback for Tension Type and Migraine Headaches

Abstract:The effectiveness of biofeedback therapy in treating headache has been explored in various clinical settings. However, few studies in the literature focused on well- diagnosed patients who failed properly applied analgesic treatment. The aim of the study is to explore whether the combination of biofeedback and analgesics is more effective than analgesics alone in treating patients with pharmacologically uncontrolled tension type headache and migraine. The hypothesis is that the combination of biofeedback and analgesics is more effective than analgesics alone in treating patients with uncontrolled tension type headache and migraine.Electromyographic and thermal biofeedback was utilized as an add-on treatment for 25 patients whose tension type headache and migraine was pharmacologically uncontrolled. The effect of the combination therapy was compared with the treatment effect of 25 similar patients, who continued receiving pharmacological treatment alone. All the subjects from the two groups were randomly selected from the pool of patients with uncontrolled tension type headache and migraine. The progress of two groups was closely monitored and data was collected for statistical analysis, which consists of Chi Square, non-parametric ANOVA, and Mann- Whitney U test.Some positive results were observed from the group of patients receiving combination therapy of biofeedback and analgesics, including: reduced use of analgesics, reduced muscle tension, reduced pain score, decrease in intensity, frequency, and duration of headache. These positive outcomes were rarely observed from the comparison group, in which pharmacological treatment was continued alone.The results indicate that the addition of biofeedback to standard analgesic therapy may be more effective than analgesics alone in treating patients with uncontrolled tension type headache and migraine. Further research is suggested to validate these findings and improve treatment effectiveness.