Current perspectives on the effect of manual therapy in the physiotherapeutic treatment of patients with tension headache

Abstract

Tension-type headache is a condition that significantly affects quality of life, characterized by diffuse pain of mild to moderate intensity, episodic or chronic; located in the head, it is associated with muscle tension and other symptoms, often related to psychosocial factors, affecting about 46% of the global population. Treatment is predominantly pharmacological, but it does not address the underlying cause of the pain; therefore, physiotherapy, especially through manual therapy, emerges as an effective approach. This study reviews the main physiotherapeutic approaches based on manual therapy for the treatment of tension-type headache, emphasizing the techniques of Dry Needling, Mulligan Mobilization, and Soft Tissue Manipulation. The adopted methodology involved research in various databases, resulting in the selection of 14 relevant studies for use in the development of the research, noting that although there is a greater amount of studies on cervicogenic headache, the therapeutic approaches for both conditions are similar. The results demonstrate that the selected techniques are effective for managing the pathology; however, the combination of these techniques resulted in a more satisfactory outcome for the patient than when used independently. Therefore, this study aims to provide a comprehensive view of therapeutic strategies, contributing to the understanding and treatment of tension-type headache and its implications in clinical practice.