Because there isn’t a pill that we can take and magically cure our migraines, we can only hope to find a way to make them less frequent and more tolerable.
Scientists believe that one reason why migraines happen is due to bad circulation in the brain.Blood flow becomes constricted in one place or lobe of the brain, and the excess blood goes to another part.
PEMF therapy is known to cause vasodilatation and improve the blood flow to any part of the body. Therefore, that is one way in which PEMF helps with migraines, scientists believe. Moreover, by increasing the amount of cellular energy, the body is once again able to correct the disturbed neural pathways in the brain that might also be causing migraines..
A Study on PEMF and Migraines
Sherman RA, Robson L., and Acosta NM conducted a study in 1999 on whether treatment of migraines was possible with a pulsing electromagnetic field. This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, which ensures that the results are reliable and unbiased.
Forty-two subjects participated in the study, 34 of whom were women and 8 of whom were men. All of them met the International Headache Society’s criteria for having migraines. All of the subjects were required to keep a one-month log of migraine activity before the treatment, for comparison.They were then randomized into two groups, where one group received real PEMF stimulation applied to their inner thighs and the other group received placebo treatment for 1 hour a day, 5 days a week, for 14 days.After completion of the study, all subjects were required to keep a one-month log of their migraine activity, and report for a one-month follow-up.During the first follow-up, 73% of those from the PEMF group reported decreased migraines (45% good, 14% excellent), compared to 50% of those in the placebo group (20% good, 15% worse, 0% excellent).
Twenty-two subjects from the placebo group received an additional 2 weeks of PEMF stimulation. After another follow-up, all of them reported improvement (50% good, 38% excellent).Thirteen subjects from the PEMF group were chosen not to receive additional PEMF treatment.
During their second follow-up, 12 of them showed decreased migraine activity (29% good, 43% excellent). Therefore, it can be concluded that PEMF stimulation to the inner thighs for at least 3 weeks is an effective way of reducing the frequency and intensity of migraines. This is a completely non-invasive and safe method of alleviating migraines that can be used every day, or at least for 5 days a week for maximum benefits.