A comparison of treatments for prefrontal muscle contraction headache

A comparison of hypnotic analgesia, frontalis electromyographic feedback, and frontalis electromyographic feedback in conjunction with Jacobson progressive relaxation for treating chronic prefrontal muscle contraction headache was done. There were four 1-hour treatment sessions for each type, and a follow-up. Measures were the number of headache hours per week, a subjective estimate of pain intensity, and an objective ratio of pain intensity found by using the submaximum tourniquet technique. No significant differences were found between treatments on these dependent measures, although all produced significant change in the desired direction. The current study utilized 48 patients with chronic prefrontal headache, and was performed in a clinical situation. Certain responses to the Headache Questionnaire used in screening were significantly correlated with improvement in headache. The current study controlled for class of medication the patient may have been taking for headache, thereby giving a more realistic assessment of the effectiveness of psychological treatments in a clinic.