Manual therapies for migraine: A systematic review

Aleksander Chaibi*, Peter J. Tuchin, Michael Bjørn Russell

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    110 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Migraine occurs in about 15% of the general population. Migraine is usually managed by medication, but some patients do not tolerate migraine medication due to side effects or prefer to avoid medication for other reasons. Non-pharmacological management is an alternative treatment option. We systematically reviewed randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on manual therapies for migraine. The RCTs suggest that massage therapy, physiotherapy, relaxation and chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy might be equally effective as propranolol and topiramate in the prophylactic management of migraine. However, the evaluated RCTs had many methodological shortcomings. Therefore, any firm conclusion will require future, well-conducted RCTs on manual therapies for migraine.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)127-133
    Number of pages7
    JournalJournal of Headache and Pain
    Volume12
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 2011

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