Specific and Non‐specific Effects of Skin Temperature Control in Migraine Management

Abstract

SYNOPSIS Skin temperature self‐regulation has been demonstrated to be an efficacious behavioral technique in the management of migraine headache. However, a controversy has arisen over the particular significance of the skin temperature factor per se. The present pilot study represents an attempt to evaluate the relative contributions of specific and non‐specific effects of thermal biofeedback in migraine therapy. Thirteen female migraine patients were randomly assigned to either a “hand‐warming”or a “hand‐cooling” treatment condition. The pretreatment baseline was compared to the post‐training follow‐up period along seven indices of headache activity. Results indicated that primarily non‐specific factors and to a lesser extent, specific temperature factors contribute to the therapeutic gains observed in migraine therapy.