Modification of combined migraine-muscle contraction headaches using BVP and EMG feedback.

The effect of blood volume pulse (BVP) and frontalis muscle action potential (EMG) feedback on control of vasoconstriction of the temporal artery and frontalis muscle activity in combined migraine-muscle tension subjects was investigated in a multiple baseline design (across subjects and responses). The data indicated: (a) both subjects obtained an ability to control BVP during BVP feedback and EMG during EMG feedback; (b) there were decreases in frequency of migraine headaches during BVP feedback and decreases in muscle contraction headaches during EMG feedback. The results of this study supported the theoretical explanation of two pain mechanisms involved in combined muscle contraction-migraine headaches as well as the effectiveness of bio-feedback procedures that target directly the specific pain mechanism in the elimination of the two types of head pain.