Efficacy of temporo-parietal fascia trigger point release in the management of tension-type headache: a single-blinded RCT.

Background: The study aimed to investigate the effects of Temporoparietal Fascia trigger point release in subjects with Tension Type Headache (TTH) and on decreasing pain intensity and head and neck disability.

Methods: 40 subjects were randomly assigned to either Group 1 (intervention group) or Group 2 (control group) and received treatment for 10 days. Outcome measures, including the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain intensity, Neck Disability Index (NDI) for neck disability, Headache Disability Inventory (HDI) for headache disability, and Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT) were used. Assessments were conducted in both groups before and after the 10-day intervention period.

Result: Both groups exhibited statistically significant improvements in pain intensity, neck and headache disability, and pressure pain threshold after 10 days of intervention (p = 0.001). However, the intervention group showed greater clinical improvement compared to the control group. Between-group analysis revealed significant differences favoring the intervention group in VAS (t = 10.63), NDI (t = 7.81), HDI (t = 8.00), and PPT (t = 2.60), indicating that trigger point release in the temporo-parietal fascia was more effective in reducing symptoms and enhancing pain threshold.

Conclusion: The study concluded that Myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) release is notably effective in pain reduction, as evidenced by greater clinical improvement in the intervention group compared to the control group. Both groups experienced similar benefits in reducing head and neck-related disabilities and increasing pain pressure thresholds.

Clinical trial registration: www.ctri.nic.in, identifier: CTRI/2023/06/054085.