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The efficacy of acupressure in relieving pain has been documented; however, its effectiveness for chronic headache compared to the muscle relaxant medication has not yet been elucidated. To address this, a randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted in a medical center in Southern Taiwan in 2003. Twenty-eight patients suffering chronic headache were randomly assigned to the acupressure group (n = 14) or the muscle relaxant medication group (n = 14). Outcome measures regarding self-appraised pain scores (measured on a visual analogue scale; VAS) and ratings of how headaches affected life quality were recorded at baseline, 1 month after treatment, and at a 6-month follow-up. Pain areas were recorded in order to establish trigger points. Results showed that mean scores on the VAS at post-treatment assessment were significantly lower in the acupressure group (32.9±26.0) than in the muscle relaxant medication group (55.7±28.7) (p = 0.047). The superiority of acupressure over muscle relaxant medication remained at 6-month follow-up assessments (p = 0.002). The quality of life ratings related to headache showed similar differences between the two groups in the post treatment and at six-month assessments. Trigger points BL2, GV20, GB20, TH21, and GB5 were used most commonly for etiological assessment. In conclusion, our study suggests that 1 month of acupressure treatment is more effective in reducing chronic headache than 1 month of muscle relaxant treatment, and that the effect remains 6 months after treatment. Trigger points help demonstrate the treatment technique recommended if a larger-scale study is conducted in the future.

Background: One of the causes of musculoskeletal pain is trigger points. Trigger point injection is one of the acceptable methods to inactivate the trigger points and provide symptomatic relief. The goal of our study was to compare the effectiveness of the injection without muscle stretching versus stretching immediately after injection of methylprednisolon in the treatment of trigger points. Methods: Seventy patients with pain in the gluteal muscles due to trigger points were recruited after explanation regarding their treatment method. A written consent was collected from the patients prior to their participation in the study. The patients had two office visits and two phone follow-ups. All the patients were treated with injections of Lidocaine and Methylprednisolon. In group (A), injection was administered without stretching. In group (B), stretching of the muscle was performed immediately after the injection. The evaluation tools were Numeric Pain Intensity Scale (NPS), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Brief Pain Inventory Scale (BPI). Results: Results from VAS showed significant difference between the two groups after one month. Significant difference was seen between groups, one month and two months after the injection according to NRS. However, no significant difference was detected between two groups in BPI, except in mood. Conclusion: This study, based upon follow-ups in two months upon injection, highlights the effectiveness of muscle stretching immediately after the injection in the treatment of symptomatic gluteal trigger points.