Chronic Tension Type Headache and the Impact of Myofascial Trigger Point Release in the Short Term Relief of Headache

Purpose: This study investigated the effect of myofascial release in relieving the symptoms of Chronic Tension Type Headache (CTTH) Methods: The study used a convenience sampling pretest-post test design. 31 people (7 men and 24 women, age range 18-58 years, mean age 32 years) with CTTH participated in the study. The headache sample was screened for MTrP in the cranial and pericranial muscles and was treated with myofascial release therapy. The outcomes were measured in terms of the number of headache days in a week and the headache pain level measured in visual analog scale (VAS). Analysis: The analysis was done using paired ‘t’ test at 95% confidence interval Results: The study showed significant improvements in reduction of the number of headache days (p < 0.001) and the headache pain level (p < 0.001) following treatment. Conclusion and Implications: Myofascial release therapy to the trigger points in people with CTTH has a positive influence in decreasing pain intensity and frequency in CTTH sufferers. In future, during management of CTTH screening for myofascial trigger points and concomitant treatment using myofascial release could be considered.