A hand-held device that painlessly sends a magnetic pulse into the head may offer some migraine sufferers relief, a small study suggests.The device delivers a therapy known as transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS. It sparks a magnetic pulse that, when held against a person's head, creates an electric current among the nerves cells of the brain.
This, in turn, disrupts migraines in the "aura" phase, before they trigger pain.
Though migraines strike without warning in most cases, some people experience an aura stage, which is marked by visual disturbances, like flashes of light or zigzag lines, or other sensations such as tingling or numbness.
For the new study, researchers recruited 201 patients suffering from migraine with aura, then randomly assigned them to use the TMS device or a "sham" device the investigators used for comparison. Patients were instructed to apply the device over the site of the migraine, at its onset.
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