Chinese Herbal Medicine for Tension Headache

Chinese Herbal Medicine for Tension Headache

This study is to investigate the effects of Chinese herbal therapy on chronic tension-type headache. 132 patients with chronic tension-type headache were enrolled in the study. All patients filled in headache questionnaire at baseline phase and 4, 8, and 12 weeks after baseline. As an alternative therapeutic method, the patients were orally administrated Chinese herbal concoction for ten days. Therapeutic effects were evaluated during 12 weeks of follow-up. In the primary outcome analysis, mean headache scores were significantly lower in the group. Scores fell by 25%-40% during 12 weeks of follow-up. Patients fared significantly well for most secondary outcome measures. From baseline to 4-12 weeks of follow-up, the number of days with headache decreased by 6.8-9.5 days. Duration of each attack also significantly (P < 0.05) shortened from 5.3 hours at 4 weeks to 4.9 hours after 8 weeks of follow-up. Days with medication per four weeks at follow-up were lower than those at the baseline. The differences were significant (P < 0.05, 0.01) for all end points. Days with medication fell by 56.6% at 12 weeks. The study has provided evidence that Chinese herbal therapy can be clinically useful for the treatment of chronic tension-type headache.

Source: Tong Y, Yu L, Sun Y. Chinese Herbal Therapy for Chronic Tension-Type Headache. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2015;2015:208492.