CLINICAL RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
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Salons 10-12.
THURSDAY, 5:30-6:15 PM
Levine RA, St. Paul J, Eckert E, Rau BJA, Lang DR,
Tashman S, Peterson EL, Conrad KA, Mitsias P, Rodriguez AI.
St. John neuromuscular therapy is effective in reducing
symptoms of intractable headache: a complementary and integrative medicine
pilot study.
Henry Ford Health System bob-levine@earthlink.net
Effective therapies are urgently needed for chronic
headache, a costly societal problem. This randomized, controlled, clinical
trial tested the hypothesis that St. John Neuromuscular Therapy (SJNMT),
a deep tissue manipulation technique, is more effective than a light-touch
relaxation massage at alleviating headache symptoms. Twenty-two patients
having the diagnosis of chronic migraine and/or cervicogenic headache
for an average of 20 years participated in a randomized, single-blind,
controlled pilot study testing the efficacy of 20 weekly treatments
of SJNMT to relieve headache symptoms. The patients as a group had taken
over 40 different medications for headache treatment with minimal relief.
Patients spent an average of 6-8 hours per day in headache prior to
the start of treatment. SJNMT manipulates soft tissues to resolve palpable
dysfunction and release postural misalignments. Light-touch relaxation
massage was used as a control. After initial treatments, 8 of 11 controls
crossed over to receive SJNMT in the second phase of the study. SJNMT
decreased headache duration by 32% and 45% in phases 1 and 2, with minimal
change in controls. Nonparametric tests demonstrated significantly more
SJNMT patients experiencing at least a 25% decrease in headache duration
in the second phase compared to control (p<0.05). Our results indicate
that SJNMT is an effective treatment for some patients suffering from
intractable headache, and larger clinical trials are warranted.
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