Effectiveness of Kinesiotaping on Pain, Headache Disability, and Sleep in Patients with Cervicogenic Headache

Context: Cervicogenic headache (CeH) originates from cervical spine disorders, often associated with neck pain and structures innervated by cervical nerves. Kinesiotaping (KT) has emerged as a noninvasive treatment for musculoskeletal pain management. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of KT on pain, headache disability, and sleep in CeH patients. Settings and Design: Comparative experimental study conducted at Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research University. Subjects and Methods: Thirty patients were divided into control (conventional treatment) and experimental (conventional treatment with KT) groups. Outcome measures included Visual Analog Scale for pain, Headache Disability Index for headache disability, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality index for sleep quality, assessed at baseline, after 2 weeks, and 4 weeks. Statistical Analysis: Comparative analysis was done using an Independent samples t -test; within-group improvements were assessed using repeated measures ANOVA, with post hoc tests identifying significant time points ( P < 0.05). Results: Both experimental and control groups showed significant improvements in pain, sleep quality, and headache-related disability. The experimental group experienced a 75.3% reduction in pain and an 87.5% improvement in sleep quality ( P < 0.01). The control group had a 51.5% reduction in pain and a 26.4% improvement in sleep quality ( P < 0.01). Both groups experienced an improvement in headache-related disability, but the difference between them was not statistically significant ( P > 0.05). Conclusions: The experimental group, receiving KT with conventional treatment, showed greater reductions in pain and sleep disturbances than the control group. Although both groups improved in headache-related disability, no significant difference was found between them. These findings suggest that KT may be an effective adjunct for managing CeH.