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Local Decrease of Pressure Pain Threshold in Nummular Headache
Author(s) -
FernándezdelasPeñas César,
Cuadrado María Luz,
Barriga Francisco J.,
Pareja Juan A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
headache: the journal of head and face pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.14
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1526-4610
pISSN - 0017-8748
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-4610.2006.00511.x
Subject(s) - medicine , dorsum , peripheral , anatomy , anesthesia
Background.—Nummular headache (NH) is a primary disorder presenting with localized pain that is circumscribed to a coin‐shaped area of the head surface. Methods.—In 12 patients with NH (3 men and 9 women, 21 to 67 years old), we measured the pressure pain threshold (PPT) in several points while they were headache‐free. The following cephalic and extracephalic points were explored: the symptomatic cranial area, a symmetrical point on the nonsymptomatic side, and 3 standardized pairs of symmetrical points (anterior part of the temporal muscle, upper trapezius muscle, and distal dorsal part of the second finger). Three consecutive PPT readings were obtained with an algometer on each point, and the repeatability of these measurements was always high (ICC: 0.93 to 0.97). Results.—Mean PPT was lower in the symptomatic cranial area than in the contra‐lateral symmetrical point (1.8 ± 0.6 kg/cm 2 vs 2.4 ± 0.6 kg/cm 2 ; P < .001), whereas in the remaining reference points PPT was almost equal on both sides. Conclusions.—According to these data, NH seems to be associated with a local increase of pain sensitivity to mechanical stimulation.