Yoga Therapy for Chronic Tension-Type Headache

Yoga Therapy for Chronic Tension-Type Headache: An Evaluation Study

Chronic tension headache represents a considerable social burden in terms of both costs to the health services and also the costs of lost productivity. Episodic tension-type headache can be treated with rest and analgesics, while chronic tension-type headache demands a more fundamental treatment.

Effectiveness of yoga therapy in the management of chronic tension type headache is limited. In this study, yoga therapy was used to explore its effect on chronic tension-type headache.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Meeting the diagnostic criteria of CTTH in the international classification of headache disorders, 3rd edition (beta version) (ICHD-III beta);
• Aged 18-55 years;
• Having the ability of understanding and completing the headache dairy;
• Provide written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• No headache during the pervious 3 months;
• Taking any prophylactic medication during the previous one month;
• Secondary headache or any systematic cause
• Having serious conditions of the heart, liver, kidney or other organs;
• In pregnancy or lactation, or planning to be pregnant in 6 months;
• Drug and Substance abuse
• Diagnosed psychiatric condition
• Taking any other complementary and alternative medicines
• Practicing yoga of any kind in last three months