Myofascial trigger points therapy increases neck mobility and reduces headache pain in migraine patients - pilot study

What Was Tested

This clinical trial paper looks at CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) in the context of migraine.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Ischemic Compression Myofascial Trigger Points (IC-MTrPs) therapy, applied mainly to the upper trapezius muscle (UTM), on: [1] cervical spine range of motion (CS-ROM), and [2] headache characteristics in migraine patients.

Why It Was Studied

The study protocol was retrospectively registered on December 2, 2022, as a clinical trial in the international clinical trial database ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT05646160).

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were young adults, adults and middle-aged adults, women only.

Fifty-three adult female migraine patients were classified into three groups: episodic migraine without aura (MO, n = 31), episodic migraine with aura (MA, n = 15), and chronic migraine (CM, n = 7).

Patients underwent seven sessions of IC-MTrPs therapy targeting the shoulder and neck muscles.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as pilot.

It is described as a pilot, a small early test of whether a larger CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) study would be practical.

A case series employing a repeated-measures design; pilot study.

Assessments were conducted across five sessions: pre-therapy (baseline), post-1st therapy, post-4th therapy, post-7th therapy, and at a 1-month follow-up.

Outcome measures included: CS-ROM (assessed using an accelerometer system), subjective headache pain intensity (evaluated via the Visual Analog Scale (VAS)), and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) concentrations.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide, Migraine Disorders, Myofascial Pain Syndromes, Neck Muscles, Pain Measurement, Pilot Projects and Range of Motion, Articular.

The authors tagged it with the keywords Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), Cervical spine range of motion (CS-ROM), Headache, Ischemic compression (IC), Myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) and Upper trapezius muscle (UTM).

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a pilot study of CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) in people with migraine.

Results are reported in around 8 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2025 (BMC musculoskeletal disorders), a journal based in England.

More context: the CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) compound page, Migraine research.