Migraine treatment

Dbailey · April 30, 2019, 6:48pm

Anyone have experience with PEMF treatment for migraines. My daughter has suffered with them almost daily for over 2 years. She has been to 14 different doctors Chiropractors etc… with no relief. Thank you in advance for sharing.

steverhodes1 · April 30, 2019, 6:58pm

You might check out a AVACEN unit, which was originally developed for migraines. It applies heat to the palm of your hand while in a vacuum, heating the blood above normal temperature. Unit costs about $1,600.

I have been using it to improve oxygen supply to damaged nerve ends from peripheral neuropathy. PEMF seems to also improve blood flow, so the two together should compliment each other.
Several family members have used the AVACEN unit to successfully treat extreme headaches, although no migraine per se

bettereveryday · April 30, 2019, 11:44pm

There are some initial studies on it.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Treatment of migraine with pulsing electromagnetic fields: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

RA Sherman, NM Acosta and L Robson, Headache, Sep 1999

The effect of exposure to pulsing electromagnetic fields on migraine activity was evaluated by having 42 subjects (34 women and 8 men), who met the International Headache Society's criteria for migraine, participate in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Each subject kept a 1-month, pretreatment, baseline log of headache activity prior to being randomized to having either actual or placebo pulsing electromagnetic fields applied to their inner thighs for 1 hour per day, 5 days per week, for 2 weeks. After exposure, all subjects kept the log for at least 1 follow-up month. During the first month of follow-up, 73% of those receiving actual exposure reported decreased headaches (45% good decrease, 14% excellent decrease) compared to half of those receiving the placebo (15% worse, 20% good, 0% excellent). Ten of the 22 subjects who had actual exposure received 2 additional weeks of actual exposure after their initial 1-month follow-up. All showed decreased headache activity (50% good, 38% excellent). Thirteen subjects from the actual exposure group elected not to receive additional exposure. Twelve of them showed decreased headache activity by the second month (29% good, 43% excellent). Eight of the subjects in the placebo group elected to receive 2 weeks of actual exposure after the initial 1-month follow-up with 75% showing decreased headache activity (38% good, 38% excellent). In conclusion, exposure of the inner thighs to pulsing electromagnetic fields for at least 3 weeks is an effective, short-term intervention for migraine, but not tension headaches.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Initial exploration of pulsing electromagnetic fields for treatment of migraine.

RA Sherman, L Robson and LA Marden, Headache, Mar 1998

Two studies were conducted during which 23 patients with chronic migraine were exposed to pulsing electromagnetic fields over the inner thigh. In an open study, 11 subjects kept a 2-week headache log before and after 2 to 3 weeks of exposure to pulsing electromagnetic fields for 1 hour per day, 5 days per week. The number of headaches per week decreased from 4.03 during the baseline period to 0.43 during the initial 2-week follow-up period and to 0.14 during the extended follow-up which averaged 8.1 months. In a double-blind study, 9 subjects kept a 3-week log of headache activity and were randomly assigned to receive 2 weeks of real or placebo pulsing electromagnetic field exposures as described above. They were subsequently switched to 2 weeks of the other mode, after which they kept a final 3-week log. Three additional subjects in the blind study inadvertently received half-power pulsing electromagnetic field exposures. The 6 subjects exposed to the actual device first showed a change in headache activity from 3.32 per week to 0.58 per week. The 3 subjects exposed to only half the dose showed no change in headache activity. Large controlled studies should be performed to determine whether this intervention is actually effective.

Dbailey · May 1, 2019, 12:15pm

Interesting thank you for sharing I wonder why the inner thigh vs the head?

bettereveryday · May 1, 2019, 3:53pm

Yeah, I wondered the same thing. That was their choice.

I wonder if it would be too stimulating there.

I personally would try the head, but it is just a proof of concept type of study.

It might be a specific nerve they were trying to stimulate.

For instance, vagus nerve is one you can stimulate in many different spots.