The Cefaly headband is a battery powered device that may prevent migraine headaches. It works by pressing a self adhesive electrode, positioned at the center of person’s forehead, which sends an electrical signal through the skin to the trigeminal nerve. By stimulating the nerve, the device was shown to help prevent the migraine headaches in a study of 67 people. This week the FDA approved it for marketing.
Cefaly is only meant to be used once a day for 20 minutes, and should only be used by people 18 and older.
ApplySci cautions that the long term effect of brain stimulation is unknown, and the size of this study was limited. Therefore devices like this must be used carefully, and immediately stopped if side effects are experienced.