The effect of auto acupressure on reliefing headache in Migraine

Background: Auto-acupressure is an effective pain treatment method in various conditions. The aim of this study was determining of Auto-acupressure efficacy in patients with migraine.

Methods: 48 voluntary subjects were selected using convenience sampling method and randomized into two, auto-acupressure (25 patients) and control (23 patients), groups.  Intervention for the treatment group included training the participants to apply acupressure on effective area and in control group patients applied acupressure on non-effective area (placebo). The pain intensity and duration in auto-acupressure and control groups were measured using a 0 - 10 numerical scale form. Data was collected before and after intervention in both groups using demographic questionnaire and self–report forms for pain characteristics and application of auto–acupressure and was analyzed using statistical methods.

Results: The results showed that there was no statistical significant difference between mean of headache intensity (P=0.054) and mean of headache duration (P=0.359) before and after intervention in acupressure group. There was not significant difference between two groups for headache intensity (P=0.222) and headache duration (P=0.837). 

Conclusion:The effect of auto-acupressure on reduction of headache intense and duration in patients suffering from migraine was not confirmed. This may be related to placebo or empathic effect of acupressure in number of subjects.