English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Headache is the most common disabling condition worldwide that can be treated with massage therapy. But due to not practising by us there is a gap in applying massage therapy, as a non-pharmacological, along with pharmacological intervention for the treatment of headache which improves symptoms. There is negligible information on the effectiveness of that combined therapy to treat headaches. We wanted to study the effectiveness of combined therapy in a study group as compared to the control group and also to check the statistical significance among the study group (combined therapy) and control group (mono-therapy). METHODS A total of 30 study groups and 30 control groups of both sex with the age group of 18 - 65 years were included. The study group was explained about the structured massage therapy and encouraged to take the pharmacological drug along with it. The severity of headache was determined by using the HIT-6 scale and the subjects were assessed by themselves using the measure yourself medical outcome profile (MYMOP) questionnaire. The study was conducted in tertiary care hospitals which included both in-patient and out-patient departments. It was a prospective study. Descriptive and Inferential statistics were used. RESULTS Compared with the initial visit, the severity of headache symptoms significantly reduced within two weeks of the massage protocol along with pharmacological intervention as compared to the control group. The severity of associated symptoms also reduced significantly following massage therapy. CONCLUSIONS Our study proved that combined therapy was very effective as compared to the control group who were on monotherapy. Needs to apply it clinically in future. Since both act at different sites, our study proved that combined therapy is effective in reducing headache along with associated symptoms significantly. KEY WORDS Massage Therapy, Headache, Amitriptyline, MTrPs (Myofascial Trigger Points)