[Duration of the exteroceptive suppression of temporal muscle activity as a parameter for therapy control in tension-type headache-a pilot study.].

UNLABELLED: The period of late exteroceptive suppression (ES 2) of the temporalis muscle is often shortened in patients with chronic tension-type headache. The present study was conducted to find out whether the ES 2 is influenced by muscle relaxation training and whether it is rather a state or a trait marker.

METHODS

The ES 2 was measured in seven female outpatients with chronic tension-type headache before, during, and after a 6-week period of muscle relaxation training. Single electrical stimuli were applied periorally during maximum teeth clenching, while the activity of temporalis muscle was recorded with surface EMG electrodes.

RESULTS

Before treatment, duration of the ES 2 was significantly shorter in patients than in a control group. Immediately after the 6-week period the ES 2 was normalized and no longer different from that in the controls. Another 16 weeks later the duration of ES 2 was reduced again, but had not returned to pretreatment values. The ES 2 data correlated slightly better with the patients' feeling of being relaxed than with reduction of headache.

CONCLUSIONS

The duration of ES 2 was modified by a muscle relaxation training in patients with chronic tension-type headache. Therefore, ES 2 is a state marker and is probably influenced by limbic structures. Measurement of ES 2 may not be only a diagnostic tool, but could also be useful in monitoring results of therapy in patients with tension-type headache.