The purpose of this thesis was to establish if it was possible to affect the headache symptom of people suffering from muscular temporomandibular disorders via physiotherapy. The aim was to study the effect of implemented physiotherapy on the experienced headache. This thesis was commissioned by NeuroPirkot Oy, a private company which produces physiotherapy services in Hämeenlinna.

The study was carried out as a quantitative survey study and the research data was collected by using questionnaires. The first questionnaire was filled out by the test subjects at the beginning of the physiotherapy intervention and it was used to examine the starting situation of each test subject considering their headache symptom. The second questionnaire, which was filled out by the test subjects at the end of the physiotherapy intervention, was used to study the changes in the reported headache symptom following the physiotherapy intervention as well as the intervention’s usefulness and experienced effectiveness in headache treatment. The physiotherapy intervention included five physiotherapy appointments and home exercises. The physiotherapy methods used in the intervention were manual soft tissue manipulation, joint mobilization and therapeutic exercise and, in addition, breathing and relaxation were also paid attention to in the exercises. The analyzed research data consisted of the questionnaire answers of two test subjects and the results were considered on an individual basis.

The results of the study showed a decrease in experienced headache frequency, intensity and intrusiveness after the physiotherapy intervention. The test subjects felt that the physiotherapy was useful and effective in the treatment of their headache symptoms. Because of the small sample size, the results cannot be generalized to apply to a larger group, but they can be considered to be suggestive in the physiotherapeutic treatment of the headache of the people suffering from temporomandibular disorders.