ReviewCurrent pain and headache reports2013
Does exercise make migraines worse and tension type headaches better?
Review in Current pain and headache reports, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prescription of therapeutic exercise in migraine, an evidence-based clinical practice guideline.The journal of headache and pain · 2023Guideline
- Pooled it
- The effect of aerobic exercise on the number of migraine days, duration and pain intensity in migraine: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis.The journal of headache and pain · 2019Pooled it
- Neck-specific strengthening exercise compared with placebo sham ultrasound in patients with migraine: a randomized controlled trial.BMC neurology · 2022Trial
- The effects of two different intensities of aerobic training protocols on pain and serum neuro-biomarkers in women migraineurs: a randomized controlled trail.European journal of applied physiology · 2021Trial
- Dropout Rate of Participants in Randomized Controlled Trials Using Different Exercise-Based Interventions in Patients with Migraine. A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Incorporating Therapeutic Education and Exercise in Migraine Management: A Biobehavioral Approach.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Physical Activity is Associated with Less Analgesic Use in Women Reporting Headache-A Cross-Sectional Study of the German Migraine and Headache Society (DMKG).Pain and therapy · 2022Article
- Migraine management: Non-pharmacological points for patients and health care professionals.Open medicine (Warsaw, Poland) · 2022Review
- Clinical Reasoning Behind Non-Pharmacological Interventions for the Management of Headaches: A Narrative Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Review
- The association between migraine and physical exercise.The journal of headache and pain · 2018Review
- The impact of regular lifestyle behavior in migraine: a prevalence case-referent study.Journal of neurology · 2016Article
- Aerobic Exercise for Reducing Migraine Burden: Mechanisms, Markers, and Models of Change Processes.Headache · 2016Review
- Headache in sports.Current pain and headache reports · 2014Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many non-pharmacological treatments have been implicated in the treatment of primary headache, with exercise being a common recommendation. In this review we first provide an overview of the relationship between exercise and primary headaches. We then review the physiology of pain modulation, with focus on the endogenous opioids, endocannabinoids, and neuropeptides calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and their associations with primary headache and exercise. Finally, we summarize current literature evaluating effects of exercise on primary headache in an effort to understand the benefits and disadvantages of exercise in primary headaches.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.