A Hairdryer-Like Cure for a Migraine

If you are one of the 30 million migraine sufferers in the USA, you may have seen pictures of the new device that can apparently arrest a migraine before it reaches its peak. The FDA is apparently close to approving this device, which resembles a large hairdryer, but is really a magnetic stimulation machine.

Reporting at the American Headache Society meeting, Dr Yousef Mohammad of the Ohio State University Medical Center described a study of the use of this devoice in 164 migraine patients. The patients all experienced an aura before the onset of their pain. They were randomized to use a device emitting magnetic pulses or to use a sham machine. They were to record their symptoms and pain level when the aura began and then use the machine; they again noted their symptoms and pain after 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 24 hours, and 48 hours.

When activated, the device sends two magnetic pulses into the back of the head. “It feels like a slight pressure at the back of the head, that’s all” says Dr Mohammad. Freedom from pain at the 2-hour mark was achieved in 39% of the subjects, compared with 20% who used the sham machine. The occurrence of migraine symptoms like nausea and photophobia were the same or less in the device group of subjects, compared with the sham-treated controls.

This study shows that magnetic stimulation works in migraine patients who have an aura. The magnitude of the beneficial effect is about equal to that achieved with medications. Now they will study it in patients without an aura, as well as in depression. Maybe we shouldn’t be too quick to reject “magnetism” as an item of Alternative Medicine!