I can tell you first hand that suffering from a migraine problem is no fun at all. If you are familiar with the mythical Chinese folk character, the Monkey King, then you would know the kind of pain that the mischievous Sun Wukong goes through each time he goes overboard with his antics as the magical headband that he wears starts to constrict around his temple, causing him unbearable pain. Well, in real life, migraine pain is extremely real, with some of the more severe cases accompanied by other symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, dizziness and a sensitivity to sounds and light. While prescription and over-the-counter medications are available which might help, some migraine sufferers find it difficult to tolerate such medicine. The FDA has just approved the Cefaly headband-shaped device which relies on electrical stimulation in order to combat migraine pain.
When one wears this battery-powered plastic headband, the Cefaly will get to work almost immediately, sending out small albeit steady, electrical pulses into the trigeminal nerve, which is the largest of all the cranial nerves. It sounds nuts, but a random study of those who used the Cefaly band claim that they suffer from fewer headaches after that, with up to 71% of the patients notching up a satisfied experience with the Cefaly.
It is rather late for the US to get the Cefaly, as this device had already seen action in Europe as well as in the Great White North. Ah well, better late than never, right?
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