Effects of Aerobic Exercise Within a Behavioral Treatment Program for Chronic Headaches

Aerobic exercise has long been discussed as a potential treatment for chronic headaches, though research in this area has been somewhat limited. It is warranted to consider the effectiveness of aerobic exercise as part of a larger headache management intervention. Early research in this area suggests that including an exercise component in conjunction with other effective forms of headache management, such as progressive muscle relaxation, biofeedback, and stress management, is associated with improvement in number of days with a headache, headache pain intensity and mood. None of these studies have specifically analyzed the effectiveness of the aerobic exercise component, though Lemestra et al. (2002) noted that participants who continued with their exercise regimen had better overall outcomes three months after the intervention ended. Given the high rates of obesity and the fact that many people do not meet the minimum daily requirement for exercise, it is worthwhile to investigate the additive effect of exercise to behavioral headache interventions.