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Tension Headache
The effects of laser
acupuncture on chronic tension headache--a randomised controlled trial.
Ebneshahidi NS, Heshmatipour
M, Moghaddami A, Eghtesadi-Araghi P.
Physical
Therapy Dept, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
na_sa_eb@yahoo.com
OBJECTIVE:
Headache affects the quality of life for many people throughout the world.
Tension headache is among the commonest forms. Acupuncture is the most widely
practised non-medicinal treatment for headaches. The purpose of this study was
to explore the effects of laser acupuncture in this type of headache.
METHODS:
Fifty patients with chronic tension-type headache were randomly allocated to
treatment or placebo groups. Patients in the treatment group received low
energy laser acupuncture to LU7, LI4, GB14, and GB20 bilaterally. Points were
irradiated for 43 seconds, and the intensity was 1.3J (approximately 13J/cm2).
Ten sessions were given, three per week. The placebo group was treated in a
similar way except that the output power of the equipment was set to zero. The
outcome variables were headache intensity (VAS), duration of attacks, and
number of days with a headache per month, by daily diary, assessed monthly to
three months after treatment.
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RESULTS: There were significant differences
between groups (P<0.001) in changes from baseline in months one, two and
three, in median score for headache intensity (treatment group -5, -3 and -2,
placebo group -1, 0 and 0), median duration of attacks (treatment group -6, -4
and -4, placebo group -1, 0 and 0 hours), and median number of days with
headache per month (treatment group -15, -10 and -8, placebo group -2, 0 and
0).
CONCLUSION: This study suggests that laser acupuncture may be an effective
treatment for chronic tension-type headache, but the results should be
confirmed in larger and more rigorous trials.
PMID:
15844435 [PubMed - in process]
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