A review of nonvalidated and complementary therapies for cluster headache

Bilchik, Tanya R.

doi:10.1007/s11916-004-0030-z

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…is not enough to establish firm evidence." 27 Others had tried unsuccessfully to use BT in trigeminal neuralgia, [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] occipital neuralgia, 35,40,41 and, to date, no RCTs have ever been performed in cluster headache, [42][43][44][45] other trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, or hemicrania continua. 15,46 Secondary headaches were never systematically studied, and even treating cervicogenic headache with BT yielded no firm evidence favoring its use.…”

Section: Bt In the Treatment Of Head And Face Painmentioning

confidence: 99%

Botulinum Toxin and the Treatment of Headache: A Clinical Review

Finkel

2011

Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Parsing head pain is about classifying the common complaints people bring to us. Classification of primary headaches implies a discoverable pathology. It is assumed that by creating procedures or drugs which correct that pathology, we can provide new ways of treating the common headache disorders. The recent approval of onabotulinum toxin A (OBA) for the treatment of chronic migraine (CM) may offer just such an opportunity. Yet by attempting to answer old questions, new ones have been raised amongst by this new treatment, some of which include:Is the effectiveness of botulinum toxin (BT) in CM based upon its analgesic properties or does it have something to do with the action of the toxin on the pathology underlying CM?Is it going to prove to be an effective tool for those patients who might need it most? BT IN THE TREATMENT OF HEAD AND FACE PAINIn 1989, the orphan drug botulinum toxin batch 79-11 ("Oculinum") was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of blepharospasm. 1 Within 5 years, the first paper appeared on the use of BT in headache. 2 In the years since, we have seen an incremental increase in publications and clinical trials, but as shown in the Figure, the number of publications of new randomized controlled trials (RCTs) since 2004 has been stable. 3 Many of the other publications and reviews cited the same datasets.From its first use, BT was used for the treatment of headache, temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD), myofascial face pain, and bruxism. 4-18 At that time, treating myofascial pain with injections was common and clinically driven by such authors as Janet Travell and David Simons whose Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual was a mainstay of pain treatment. Their work was based upon the belief that pain could be reproduced with touch and that following pain with injections could lead to relief at some distance from the trigger point. 19 The evidence for treating myofascial pain of and outside of the face with BT was not forthcoming, 20-22 although correlating pain relief with weakening muscles with a presumed reduction in spasm may have found some credence in the treatment of TMD. 23-26 One author concluded that BT "appears both safe and efficacious in . . . chronic facial pain associated with masticatory hyperactivity," although he cautioned that one "RCT . . . is not enough to establish firm evidence." 27 Others had tried unsuccessfully to use BT in trigeminal neuralgia, 28-39 occipital neuralgia, 35,40,41 and, to date, no RCTs have ever been performed in cluster headache, 42-45 other trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, or hemicrania continua. 15,46 Secondary headaches were never systematically studied, and even treating cervicogenic headache with BT yielded no firm evidence favoring its use. 47-49 Also, the well-established treatment of pain associated with cervical dystonia 50 did not translate to a treatment for headache associated with cervical dystonia. 15,[51][52][53][54][55] In their comprehensive review of pain treatment with BT, Rawicki et a...

show abstract

Section: Bt In the Treatment Of Head And Face Painmentioning

confidence: 99%

Botulinum Toxin and the Treatment of Headache: A Clinical Review

Finkel

2011

Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This finding indicates that the patients may fail to receive adequate support from their physicians, which may have forced them to take the path of self-treatment or use of unconventional treatments without any professional supervision. Hence, clinical practitioners would require the knowledge on these alternative treatments to openly discuss the possible harms and benefits and evaluate contraindications and interactions with the patients who use unconventional treatments [13,14,32]. The preliminary positive results on some substances might help physicians understand why some patients would want to use them.…”

Section: Relevance In Clinical Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to treatments prescribed or administered by a clinician, an estimated one-third of CH patients use complementary or alternative treatment methods such as physical therapy maneuvers, relaxation techniques, acupuncture, herbal medicine or homeopathy, or pharmacological substances. Many of the used substances are illicit and have not been clinically studied in the treatment of CH [13][14][15][16][17][18]. The use of these various unconventional treatments by CH patients speaks to the limitations of the available conventional treatments [19] and points towards an urgent need to find better treatment options.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Reported Efficacy of Treatments in Cluster Headache: a Systematic Review of Survey Studies

Rusanen

Schindler

et al. 2022

Curr Pain Headache Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose of Review The use and efficacy of various substances in the treatment of CH have been studied in several retrospective surveys. The aim of the study is to systematically review published survey studies to evaluate the reported efficacies of both established and unconventional substances in abortive and prophylactic treatment of both episodic and chronic CH, specifically assessing the consistency of the results. Recent Findings No systematic review have been conducted of these studies previously. A systematic literature search with a set of search terms was conducted on PubMed. Retrospective surveys that quantified the self-reported efficacy of two or more CH treatments, published in English during 2000–2020, were included. Several key characteristics and results of the studies were extracted. A total of 994 articles were identified of which 9 were found to be eligible based on the selection criteria. In total, 5419 respondents were included. Oxygen and subcutaneous triptan injections were most reported as effective abortive treatments, while psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide were most commonly reported as effective prophylactic treatments. The reported efficacy of most substances was consistent across different studies, and there were marked differences in the reported efficacies of different substances. The reported order of efficacy is generally in agreement with clinical studies. The findings suggest that retrospective surveys can be used to obtain supporting information on the effects of various substances used in the treatment of CH and to form hypotheses about novel treatment methods. The consistently reported efficacy of psilocybin and LSD in prophylactic treatment indicates need for clinical studies.

show abstract

Acupuncture in cluster headache: four cases and review of the literature

Fofi

Allais

Quirico³

et al. 2014

Neurol Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although cluster headache (CH) is the most disabling form of primary headache, little evidences regarding alternative and complementary therapies are available. Only few dated studies and some isolated cases are described. We describe four patients with CH treated with acupuncture as a preventive treatment, combined with verapamil or alone. All patients received acupuncture treatment twice/week for 2 weeks, then once/week for 8 weeks, and then once/alternate weeks for 2 weeks. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine the acupoints selected were: Ex HN-5 Taiyang, GB 14 Yangbai (both only on the affected side), GB 20 Fengchi (on both sides), LI 4 Hegu, LR 2 Xingjiang, SP 6 Sanyinjiao, ST 36 Zusanli (all on both sides). At each point, after the insertion of the needle, the feeling of "De Qi" was evoked; after obtaining this sensation the acupoints were not further stimulated for a period of 20 min, until their extraction. In all patients an interruption of cluster attacks was obtained. To our knowledge, this is the first report concerning acupuncture in CH patients which details the protocol approach, acupoints and duration of the treatment. Our results offer the opportunity to discuss the emerging role of acupuncture in the therapy of CH, assuming a possible influence on opioid system.

show abstract

A review of nonvalidated and complementary therapies for cluster headache

Cited by 8 publications

References 16 publications

Botulinum Toxin and the Treatment of Headache: A Clinical Review

Botulinum Toxin and the Treatment of Headache: A Clinical Review

Self-Reported Efficacy of Treatments in Cluster Headache: a Systematic Review of Survey Studies

Acupuncture in cluster headache: four cases and review of the literature

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About