The way to migraine relief could be through the nose.
A promising treatment that involves delivering lidocaine, a topical numbing agent, to nerves in the back of the nasal cavity through the nostrils appears to reduce debilitating headaches, researchers said.
“Going forward it is going to be a viable option,” says Albany Medical Center’s Dr. Kenneth Mandato, a vascular and interventional radiologist and the study’s lead researcher.
The anesthetic is delivered to the sphenopalatine ganglion, a collection of nerves associated with head pain, through a catheter the size of a strand of spaghetti.
Thirty days after the treatment, 88% of 112 patients who all had migraines or chronic cluster said they required less or no migraine medication. Patients also reported less severe headaches for up to a month.
This suggests that the procedure could potentially “act as a ‘reset button’ for the brain’s migraine circuitry,” Mandato said.
Lidocaine nasal sprays, as well as injections into occipital nerve at the back of the head, have also been shown to relieve pain. So has a similar nasal procedure involving lidocaine and a cotton swab.
However, Mandato contends his method, which uses X-rays along with the catheter, is targeted directly at a possible source of the pain. It is also a minimally invasive, low-risk procedure that doesn’t involve needles, he asserts.
“I want to get the message out that (if other treatments) aren’t working, this should be considered,” Mandato said. “It is quick, easy and there is little risk.”
A local doctor cautioned this is preliminary research that used a small sample size.
However, there is a big push to find ways to manage debilitating migraines, explains Dr. Costantino Iadecola, director of Weill Cornell Medical College’s Brain and Mind Research Institute. He was not involved in the research.
He adds the idea of another noninvasive technique is encouraging.
“If this pans out it would be a great step forward,” Iadecola said.
The research was presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s Annual Scientific Meeting.
