The aims of the Physiotherapy Special Interest Group are to:
Formulate position statements on current evidence for the physiotherapy assessment and evidence-based treatment contribution for the patient centred care of patients with i) migraine and ii) tension type headaches and iii) cervicogenic headache and (iv) other headaches with a cervical or temporomandibular musculoskeletal component e.g. headache associated with temporomandibular dysfunction/orofacial pain
Recommend minimum educational international standards for undergraduate physiotherapy programmes
Offer postgraduate specialised training in headache differential diagnosis and management, relevant to physiotherapy management
Stimulate international research co-operations to investigate the influence of musculoskeletal structures and physiotherapy-related research questions focussing on mechanisms and therapy of cervicogenic, tension-type, migraine and other headaches with a cervical or orofacial musculoskeletal component
Contribute to the international and interprofessional profile and membership of the International Headache Society and its international conferences
Disseminate information about the burden of headache and planning research projects and designing strategies that lead to the proposition of public policies to reduce the impact of headaches on the population and improving the healthcare for headache
Débora Bevilaqua Grossi is a Full Professor, Head of Ambulatory Physiotherapy in Headache and Craniofacial Pain in the University Clinical Hospital, University of São Paulo. She received MSc and PhD degrees in Biology and Oral-Teeth Pathology and completed her postdoctoral studies at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Headache Center with Dr. Richard Lipton and Dr. Marcelo Bigal in New York. She was Editor in Chief of Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy. Débora coordinated and is currently advisor of the Post Graduate Program in Rehabilitation and Functional Performance at University of São Paulo. Her research has been principally concerned with the musculoskeletal and functional repercussion in patients with headache, especially migraine with the mission to understand the association between migraine and other conditions like temporomandibular dysfunctions, neck pain, and vestibular symptoms or balance disfunctions.
Gwendolen Jull is an Emeritus Professor of Physiotherapy at The University of Queensland, Australia. She is a Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapy. She was previously Co-Editor of the international journal, Musculoskeletal Science and Practice. Her career has combined teaching, research and clinical practice. Her research has been concerned principally with the diagnosis and management of idiopathic neck pain, cervicogenic headache and whiplash associated disorders and quantifying the physical impairments associated with neck pain of musculoskeletal origin. She has published widely. Her current research and clinical interests are in the differential diagnosis of headache associated neck pain and its management.
Zhiqi Liang is a Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and Lecturer in Physiotherapy at the University of Queensland. She teaches on the Master of Physiotherapy (Musculoskeletal) Program and maintains a clinical role at the Headache Clinic in the University of Queensland. Her research is on neck pain and headache, especially migraine. In 2024, she was awarded the David Lamb Award by the International Federation of Manual and Musculoskeletal Physical Therapists Incorporated (IFOMPT) for high quality research that has made an impact to musculoskeletal physiotherapy internationally. Zhiqi has been a musculoskeletal physiotherapist for more than 15 years and her clinical expertise is recognised by Fellowship within the Australian College of Physiotherapists, where she has been actively involved as an examiner and facilitator for the Specialisation Training Program and currently serves on the Board of Censors.
Activities and news
Webinar: Thursday 10 April 2025 at 1400 GMT: “A physiotherapy special interest group for headache – why is it needed?” Speakers Professor Dr Gwendolen Jull, Professor Dr Kerstin Luedtke, Professor Dr Débora Bevilaqua-Grossi and Dr Zhiqi Liang.
The first official meeting will be held during IHC 2025 in Sao Paolo, Brazil, in September 2025.
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