Scientists may have a cure for people who suffer from awful headaches and chronic migraines. According to a recent study, a new migraine treatment proved successful.
The treatment consists of administering via the nose a dose of lidocaine to certain nerves that are known to be responsible for chronic headaches.
The new migraine treatment is called intranasal sphenopalatine ganglion, and even though the scientists say this does not completely cure migraines, it does bring a lot of relief to the patients.
Kenneth Mandato, lead researcher and a scientists at New York’s Albany Center, explained that the new migraine treatment called intranasal sphenopalatine ganglion are image-guided, are targeted and are really innovative and efficient.
These treatments offer migraine sufferers a new kind of therapy that is more patient-oriented and can break the cycle of migraines, improving the patient’s quality of life.
In order to come to this conclusion, the scientists conducted a study that involved 112 patients who suffer from migraines or cluster headache.
The patients had t report the severity of their migraines on a visual analogue scale, which ranged from 1 to 10. They were asked to quantify how debilitating their headaches could be.
The participants were given 4% of lidocaine, administered to the sphenopalatine ganglion, which is the nerve bundle situated behind the nose known to cause migraines.
Before they began the new migraine treatment, the patients reported an average score of 8.25 after using the visual analogue scale. Some of the patients reported a score of more than 4 that happened at least fifteen days monthly.
A day after the new migraine treatment, the visual analogue scale scores of the patients were divided in half, to an average of approximately 4.10.
After thirty days into the new therapy, the participants reported an average score of 5.25, which means that it decreased by 35% from what it was before the treatment started.
Also, 88% of the patients said that they didn’t need any migraine medication or they needed less than before because of the new treatment.
Professor Mandato explained that administering lidocaine to the sphenopalatine ganglion via the nose acts as a “reset button” for the migraine circuitry of the brain.
The patients can repeat the new treatment if they need to, according to Mandato.
Image Source: healthvesti
