Does a wearable device hooked up to your smart phone to help relieve migraine pain sound appealing? Perhaps even life altering?

Research is now under way at the Hartford HealthCare Headache Center on the effectiveness of a wearable device and accompanying smartphone app that could bring migraine relief using neuromodulation.

“The field of neuromodulation is the use of devices to stimulate certain aspects of the nervous system to provide pain relief,” said neurologist Dr. Brian Grosberg, medical director for the Hartford HealthCare Headache Center. “[Neuromodulation is] being used more and more right now as patients prefer non-medication approaches to migraine symptom relief.”

Specifically, the Hartford HealthCare Headache Center is studying the effectiveness of the wearable Nerivio Migra neurostimulation device to relieve migraine pain.

“This wearable device has electrical leads and patches that are applied to the back of the arm,” said Grosberg. “When the phone app turns on the device and adjusts the stimulation, it blocks pain signal transmission to the brain. It ‘dampens’ pain sensitive transmission that’s occurring during a migraine.

“The amazing thing is the fact that there is no medication used whatsoever.”

While the actual causes of migraine are still a bit of a medical mystery, migraine treatment research continues to seek a variety of avenues of relief for migraine sufferers.

“The device fills a gap, because not everybody who has migraine responds to over-the-counter or migraine-specific medication treatment,” said Dr. Grosberg

The device is in the trial phase, with Dr. Grosberg’s research putting it on track for approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

If you experience between two and eight migraines per month, you may be eligible to participate in migraine-treatment study. For more information, click here, or email the Hartford HealthCare Headache Center at headacheresearch@hhchealth.org