Effectiveness of Mulligan manual therapy over exercise on headache frequency, intensity and disability for patients with migraine, tension-type headache and cervicogenic headache - a protocol of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Authors: Kiran Satpute, Nilima Bedekar, Toby HallJournal: BMC musculoskeletal disordersPublished: May 14, 2021DOI: 10.1186/s12891-021-04105-y

Q2 JournalSJR: 1.354h-index: 41SCImago

Preliminary EvidencePilot

Migraines Tension Headaches

In Plain Language: migraines, explained

This paper describes the plan for a study comparing Mulligan manual therapy to exercise for treating different types of headaches (migraine, tension-type, and cervicogenic headache). The researchers have not yet conducted the study or reported results—this is the protocol (the blueprint) explaining how they will do the research.

Key Findings: what this pilot study found about migraines

✓This paper is a research protocol rather than a completed study, so no empirical findings on effectiveness have been reported yet.
✓The study is designed to compare Mulligan manual therapy against exercise as treatments for three types of headaches: migraine, tension-type headache, and cervicogenic headache.
✓The research will measure treatment outcomes across three dimensions: headache frequency, intensity, and disability.

What This Means for You

This is a protocol paper, not actual research results, so there is no evidence yet about whether Mulligan therapy works better than exercise for headaches.

What This Means for Practitioners

This upcoming trial will provide evidence comparing manual therapy to exercise for headache management, but practitioners should await the published results rather than relying on this protocol.

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Migraines: common questions

What does this study say about migraines?

This is a protocol paper, not actual research results, so there is no evidence yet about whether Mulligan therapy works better than exercise for headaches.

What did this study find?

This paper is a research protocol rather than a completed study, so no empirical findings on effectiveness have been reported yet. The study is designed to compare Mulligan manual therapy against exercise as treatments for three types of headaches: migraine, tension-type headache, and cervicogenic headache. The research will measure treatment outcomes across three dimensions: headache frequency, intensity, and disability.

How strong is this evidence?

This is a pilot study and we rate its evidence preliminary. It was published in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, a Q2 journal. This study is indexed here for context; it did not test reflexology itself.