A comparison of muscle relaxation and electromyogram biofeedback treatments for muscle contraction headache

The separate and combined effects of muscle relaxation and biofeedback in the treatment of muscle contraction headaches were examined. The results indicate that a muscle relaxation treatment, and a combined muscle relaxation and biofeedback treatment were equally more effective than either a biofeedback treatment alone or a no-treatment control in reducing headache frequency. Further, both the muscle relaxation treatment, and the combined muscle relaxation and biofeedback treatment were significantly more effective in reducing headache duration than the biofeedback treatment. However, with regard to headache severity, the combined treatment was the only procedure to be significantly more effective than the no-treatment control.