Efficacy of biofeedback in treatment of migraine

Background: Migraine is characterized by increased excitability of CNS. Biofeedback is a non-invasive, non-pharmacologic therapeutic technique, which helps patients control stress response by deep breathing,visualization and medication. The aim of the study was to compare efficacy of conventional therapy, biofeedback and combination of pharmacotherapy with biofeedback. Methods: This is a randomized study conducted for period of 2 years from April 2020 to May 2022 in Srinivas Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Mukka, Surathkal. 100 patients who were diagnosed with migraine between 18 and 60 years of age were included in the study after ruling out other primary causes of headache. Patients<18 years of age >60 years of age, with known comorbidities that can precipitate headache and on treatment for any other condition were excluded from the study. They were randomly assigned to groups for receiving conventional therapy, biofeedback therapy and combination of pharmacotherapy and biofeedback. 35 patients were allotted to group which received conventional therapy, 35 were assigned to the group that received combination of biofeedback and pharmacotherapy and 30 patients were allotted to the group that received biofeedback alone. Results: Among 100 migraine patients 58 were females and 42 were males. 62 of them were in the age group of 30 to 40 years of age. 66 patients belonged to moderate to severe category of migraine. Out of 35 patients who received conventional therapy 21 (57.4%) reported improvement in quality of life, whereas 26 out of 35 (74.28%) who received combination of biofeedback and pharmacotherapy reported reduction in severity and frequency of headaches with better quality of life compared to 13 patients out of 30 who received biofeedback alone (43.3%). Conclusions: Patients who received combination of biofeedback and pharmacotherapy had best outcome (74.28%) compared to the ones who received biofeedback (43.3%) or conventional therapy (57.4%) alone.