Doctors Highlight New Treatments During Migraine Awareness Month

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - June is national Migraine Awareness Month and there are new ways to battle the debilitating pain.

Millions of Americans suffer with migraines, which cause intense pain, nausea and sensitivity to light. Dr. Stephen Silberstein, director of the headache center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital says there are several new treatments.

"I think one of the biggest breakthroughs recently in chronic migraine is the use of botulinum toxin, or Botox. It's given every 3-4 months and it actually helps people who have headaches almost every day and it helps them have headaches only infrequently."

Even more remarkable, he says, is a treatment called the zapper.

Dr. Silberstein explains, "(It's) an electrical magnet attached to the head that zaps the pain away. We believe that headaches begin on the surface of the brain and the magnetic current (produced by the zapper) destabilizes the abnormal circuit and turns the process off."

The zapper is not yet FDA approved.

Reported by Lynne Adkins KYW Newsradio 1060