Comparative Analysis of the Impact of Positional Release Technique (PRT) and Ischemic Compression (IC) on Headache Disability and Pain in Cervicogenic Headache (CGH) Patients

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Headache originating from the bony structures or soft tissues of the neck is commonly known as cervicogenic headache. This study was conducted to determine the effects of the positional release technique (PRT) and ischemic compression (IC) on pain and headache disability among patients with cervicogenic headache (CGH). For this purpose, a randomized clinical trial was conducted. Data was collected from the Physiotherapy Department of Sharif Medical Complex, Lahore. A total of 36 CGH patients were assigned into two groups, randomly. The first group was treated with PRT and the other with IC. Both groups were given 12 sessions of therapy over a span of 4-weeks. HDI (Headache Disability Index) and NPRS (Numeric Pain Rating Scale) were used to measure the treatment effect on pain and headache disability before and after treatment. Among the participants (N = 36), the mean age of Group A and Group B was 26.22 ± 2.90 and 24.55 ± 2.55, respectively. A significant difference was found between the mean values of pre- and post-HDI and NPRS, with p-values 0.025 and 0.031, respectively and after treatment p value was 0.001 & 0.00 respectively. The results favoured the use of PRT because there was more variation in the mean values of PRT as compared to IC. Also, the mean values of pre- and post-HDI and NPRS scores varied significantly. Notably, a significant difference was not found between the mean values of both techniques at the beginning of treatment (pre-treatment). However, a significant difference was observed between the mean values of both techniques following treatment (post-treatment) in favour of PRT, since the mean values of PRT varied more than those of IC.