Lynbrook resident uses innovative device to treat migraines

Laurie Sandler used to wake up four to six times a month with a stabbing pain in her head. If the discomfort lasted throughout the day while she was at work or out, she said, she would have to return to her home in Lynbrook to sleep.
The pain was so bad, Sandler said, that she would take more of her prescription headache medicine than was prescribed. That only made the situation worse, as Sandler then suffered from medication overuse headaches, which are chronic daily headaches. According to the website for the American Migraine Foundation, the most effective method to treat MOH is the discontinuation of the medication that is overused.
So, eight months ago, Sandler’s neurologist, Dr. Adelene Jann, prescribed her a Cefaly Prevent Device to treat her migraines. The device is placed on the forehead with a magnetic connection to a self-adhesive electrode, which then sends micro-impulses through the skin to the trigeminal nerve to prevent a future migraine attack. The trigeminal nerve functions abnormally during a migraine and between attacks.
Now, Sandler, 59, is using the device every night for 20 minutes. She said that since she began using it, she only gets migraines about twice a month.
“A lot of times, I’ll have a mild headache and I’ll just take Advil,” Sandler said, adding that Cefaly is a natural alternative to the drugs. “Anything natural rather than taking medication is a bonus.”

Cefaly was designed by Dr. Pierre Rigaux in Belgium in 2008 to help patients with MOH and chronic headaches. Chronic headaches are defined as more than eight migraine attacks per month and more than 15 headaches per month.
At the time, internal electrical stimulation of the trigeminal nerve was already proven to help treat migraines, said Raphaël Ravet, a sales manager for Cefaly. But, all of the devices had to be implanted.
“[Rigaux] decided to simplify the device and implant it externally,” Ravet said.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the marketing of Cefaly in the U.S. in 2014. To get the approval, the device had to be tested at clinical trials to prove that it was safe and effective at reducing migraines.
The company then repeated its clinical trials to prove that Cefaly could be used to treat migraines when they are occurring, and received FDA approval to market another Cefaly device to treat pain during a migraine in 2017. The company now offers three different devices, including:
Cefaly Prevent — a 20-minute prophylactic treatment
Cefaly Acute — a 60-minute treatment that can reduce the pain of a migraine already in process
Cefaly Dual — includes both the Cefaly Prevent and Cefaly Acute.
For more information about Cefaly, visit the company’s website at www.cefaly.us.