EFN

A new study has discovered that deactivating muscles that can irritate the trigeminal nerve branches can stop migraine headaches.

“In this study, we’ve shown that surgical treatment of migraine headaches is safe, effective, and that this reasonably short operation can have a colossal impact on the patients’ quality of life — all while eliminating signs of aging for some patients, too,” Dr. Bahman Guyuron, a plastic surgeon involved in the study, said.

A year after the surgery, 57 percent of the patients who had actual treatment said their migraines were gone, compared with only 4 percent in the sham surgery group.

A large number of researchers think that migraines are induced by irritation of an area of the head called the trigeminal nerve branches. The new surgery, described in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery removes some of the muscles, or “migraine triggers,” that are around these nerves. This supposedly relieves the painful irritation, and reduces forehead wrinkles too.

Dr. Guyuron the world-leading plastic surgeon who made the discovery, said: ‘I have a huge number of patients who have not had any symptoms for over five years.

‘They tell me, one after the other, that their lives have changed.’

The hour-long surgery also smooths out wrinkles and the patient can be discharged the same day.

To date there have been approximately 400 of the forehead and scalp operations done and Dr Guyuron says more than half his patients report “complete elimination” of migraine symptoms.

Migraines affect one in eight men and women and lead to more sick days than any other illness – costing the economy. It is projected that nearly $13 billion is spent every year in headache treatment and loss of time from work, which no one can afford these days.