Patients suffering from chronic migraine headaches who have found no relief through the use of medication may find hope through occipital nerve stimulation (ONS). At the 58th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, April 1-8, 2006, in San Diego, research physicians from Mayo Clinic in Arizona presented findings of their clinical studies that show ONS as a safe, effective treatment for chronic headache. ONS treatment involves implanting a neurostimulator under the skin at the base of the head. The neurostimulator delivers electrical impulses near the occipital nerves via insulated lead wires tunneled under the skin. More than 32 million Americans, 70 percent of whom are women, suffer from migraines and lose about 157 million workdays each year, according to the National Headache Foundation. Many sufferers progress to a chronic condition, experiencing headaches more than 15 days per month. … Read more

When Michael Oshinsky, Ph.D., gives his rats a headache, he has good reason. The animals are helping Dr. Oshinsky, assistant professor of neurology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, study how migraine treatments work. In recent experiments, the animals provided evidence showing that DHE, a standard drug currently used to treat acute migraine pain can also work against the onset of a phenomenon called “central sensitization,” or “allodynia,” which involves, as most migraine sufferers know, a heightened sensitivity to touch.For many migraine sufferers, it hurts to touch their face, brush their hair, even take a shower during a migraine attack. Triptans, another class of drugs commonly used to treat migraines, can also treat acute headache pain, but has a narrow window in which it works against allodynia. Dr. Oshinsky looked at DHE’s effectiveness on halting or … Read more

An electronic device designed to “zap” away migraine pain before it starts may be the next form of relief for millions of people who suffer from the debilitating disease. Results of a study found that the experimental device appears to be effective in eliminating the headache when administered during the onset of the migraine. The device, called TMS, interrupts the aura phase of the migraine, often described as electrical storms in the brain, before they lead to headaches. Auras are neural disturbances that signal the onset of migraine headaches. People who suffer from migraine headaches often describe “seeing” showers of shooting stars, zigzagging lines and flashing lights, and experiencing loss of vision, weakness, tingling or confusion. What typically follows these initial symptoms is intense throbbing head pain, nausea and vomiting. Yousef Mohammad, a neurologist at OSU Medical Center who presented … Read more