Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) after Jacobson has been used for
migraine prophylaxis since the early 1970s.
Migraine patients are assumed to have an enhanced autonomic arousal which can be counterbalanced by systematic relaxation.
Relaxation techniques are thought to reduce the activation level, to alter cortical
pain processing and to enhance activation in
pain-reducing cortical structures in the periaqueductal grey matter. Meta-analyses could show PMR to be just as efficacious as pharmacological treatment options. A beneficial effect can only arise if regular daily exercises of 5-25 min are performed and the exercises are transferred into the daily routine. This review critically summarizes the empirical findings concerning the effects of PMR on
migraine. A lack of recent research on this topic was determined. In a study by this group 50 migraine patients and 46 healthy controls were examined. It could be shown that in addition to the clinical efficacy on
migraine frequency, changes in cortical information processing, measured by means of the evoked potential contingent negative variation (CNV) could also be determined. The initially increased CNV amplitude became normalized after regular PMR training in
migraine patients. With the review of PMR studies on
migraine prophylaxis and the results of our own study it could be shown that PMR is an efficacious non-pharmacological treatment option for
migraine prophylaxis. In addition to its clinical effects, alterations in cortical stimulation processing in terms of a normalization of the CNV could be documented.