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Musculoskeletal and Sports Medicine

Relieving Chronic Headaches: How Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment Transformed Life After Sobriety

Saturday, October 25, 2025
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM MT
Location: Kiosk 3

    Primary Author(s)

  • Maret Rossi (she/her/hers)

    OMS-III
    Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine
    Davie, Florida

    • Co-Author(s)

  • Irina Ter-Ovanesyan

    OMS-III
    Nova Southeastern University Dr Kiran C Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine
    Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Disclosure(s):
Maret Rossi: No financial relationships to disclose
Irina Ter-Ovanesyan: No financial relationships to disclose
Case Diagnosis: A 30-year-old female presented with daily headaches for 5 years, which significantly worsened after becoming sober twelve months ago.

Case Description or Program Description: Described as constant pressure upon waking up, the headaches progressed to an 8/10 throbbing pain in the frontotemporal region. She reported sensitivity to light and used Excedrin daily.

Setting: Headaches affect nearly one in six Americans and are part of the top ten causes of disability globally. Alcoholism furthers a state of hyperalgesia by increasing the release of glucocorticoids and catecholamines. In patients affected by both conditions, osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) may be a safe, economical, and effective procedure with the potential to decrease analgesic use and increase daily activities. OMT was performed on this patient in the setting of an OMT specialty clinic.

Assessment/Results: Techniques such as Osteopathy in the Cranial Field, muscle energy, soft tissue and counterstrain were applied through a biomechanical osteopathic model of care to heal somatic dysfunctions in this patient. After her initial visit, the patient went from headaches daily to only one total with no Excedrin use and no light sensitivity. One month later, the patient had only one headache per week which quickly subsided without medication. At her next appointment, she reported twice weekly mild headaches. The Headache Disability Index (HDI) decreased from 56 points to 20, a significant 29+ point change. Her headaches improved in almost every category including increased daily activities, improved focus, decreased anger, and more able to achieve life goals.

Discussion (relevance): OMT has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life and decrease the burdens of medication for those struggling with chronic tension headaches.

Conclusions: Furthermore, OMT may provide a documented approach to decreasing chronic pain in patients recovering from alcoholism. This case was limited by the subjectivity of self-reported pain indices.