Migraine symptoms can include pain in one or both hemispheres of the brain, nausea and sensitivity to bright light or noises. Signs of an oncoming migraine can include a sweet tooth, thirst, irritability or tiredness.
More than just passing headaches, migraines are chronic nuisance to 10% of the American population, or 30 million people. It can cause severe and relentless pain, and “there’s no cure,” according to the Mayo Clinic.
But now, in a turn of events that has migraine sufferers hopeful for a cure, a study conducted by Dr. Bahman Guyuron, chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, reveals that plastic surgery may be the answer.
“We’ve shown that surgical treatment of migraine headaches is safe, effective, and that this reasonably short operation can have a colossal impact on the patients’ quality of life,” says Dr. Guyuron.
Doctors have already believed for a while that Botox can offer temporary relief from migraines by paralyzing the muscles around the facial nerves. Then Dr. Guyuron happened upon his discovery when he noticed that some of his patients who had forehead lifts reported experiencing relief from migraines.
This led the doctor to conduct a double blind collaborative study with two neurosurgeons to determine if forehead lifts can indeed cure migraines. Since migraines can affect people in different parts of their heads, the doctors first identified the source of the migraines by injecting the patients with Botox, and those that experienced migraine relief were chosen to participate in the study. In the end, 76 patients were chosen, of which 49 were randomly selected to receive the real surgery and 26 for the sham surgery (where did the last patient go??)
The results were “fascinating and promising” according to Dr. Richard Lipton of the Montefiore Headache Center in New York, with 28 patients from the first group, or a little over half, reporting that their migraines were completely gone a year after the study, with only 1 patient in the latter group reporting the complete elimination of migraines. However, some doctors expressed skepticism of just how promising this study is, pointing out that while the sham surgery patients reported a low rate of complete relief, many of them (57%) reported significant improvement in migraine symptoms.
Here are some methods people have used to attain temporary relief from migraines:
- Neurofeedback. Also called biofeedback, it is a game-like therapy that provides the user with feedback on his or her brain’s activity in realtime. In studies, 85 to 90 percent of migraine sufferers who underwent neurofeedback therapy reported migraine relief.
- Stress reduction techniques. These can range from taking a vacation to meditating, and experts recommend employing these methods and avoiding stressful situations to lessen the risk of getting a migraine.
- Don’t oversleep. The Mayo Clinic recommends shooting for 6-8 hours a night.
No matter the outcome… seeking a cure for this most devastating everyday disease should be a priority for medical professionals and a source of hope for those affected. Keep up the good work.
