Biofeedback-assisted relaxation training for young adolescents with tension-type headache: a controlled study

Tension-type headache is common in children and adolescents and is generally treated with medication, but emerging literature suggests that various behavioral treatments may provide efficacious alternatives to medication. Juvenile tension-type headache sufferers were randomly assigned to biofeedback-assisted relaxation or relaxation placebo and followed for 1 year. Following treatment, both conditions led to sizeable headache reductions (approximately 50%). Over time, children receiving biofeedback-assisted relaxation continued to improve and were superior to the control condition at a 6- and 12-month follow-up (86% versus 50%). Biofeedback-assisted relaxation appears to be an efficacious and durable treatment for juvenile tension-type headache and merits further exploration.