Pressure pain threshold and needle acupuncture in chronic tension-type headache - a double-blind placebo-controlled study

In order to examine the role of muscular mechanisms in chronic tension-type headache a study with needle acupuncture was performed. Needle acupuncture could be of therapeutic value because it has shown some positive effects i n myofascial pain syndromes. We performed a double-blind, placebo-controlle d study with 39 patients (mean age 49.0 years, SD = 14.8) fulfilling the In ternational Headache Society criteria for chronic tension-type headaches. P articipants were randomly assigned to verum or placebo condition. Six weeks after end of treatment no significant differences between placebo and veru m could be observed with respect to visual analogue scale and frequency of headache attacks. Nevertheless, pressure pain thresholds significantly incr eased for the verum group. The findings of our study support the hypothesis that peripheral mechanisms - such as increased muscle tenderness - only pl ay a minor role in the pathogenesis of chronic tension-type headache. (C) 2 000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All ri ghts reserved.