Technology Spotlight: Cefaly

There are a lot of technology options out in the world to help manage headaches. One technology that I have been using with patients since 2013, before it got FDA clearance in 2014, is Cefaly. Cefaly is FDA approved specifically for treatment of migraine. It works by electrically stimulating the supratrochlear and supraorbital nerves, which are branches off the trigeminal nerve. The trigeminal nerve may sound familiar if you have read up on migraines as the trigemino-vascular complex is thought to play a role in migraine.

The device is FDA approved to treat and prevent migraine. If you are looking to treat a current migraine, then you would want to use Cefaly as soon as possible and the treatment would last 60 minutes. To help prevent migraine, 20 minutes of daily use is recommended. Overall Cefaly isn’t cheap but it is not super expensive as it usually runs around $360 if it’s on sale.

For some patients this device is a game changer as it is a great non-medicated way to control their migraines. Most of my patients have no side effects aside from a mild sedation that makes them feel relaxed. I generally recommend that a patient use this before bed (if they are not treating a headache) to assist them in sleeping, as most of my patients have sleep difficulties in addition to their headaches.

While Cefaly may work well for a lot of folks, for some of my patients it either doesn’t help their headache, makes the headache worse (which is rare), or they just don’t like the electrical stimulation feeling. It is for this reason that I allow patients to try the device in the clinic and borrow it for a week to see if it is worth getting.

Have your tried Cefaly? If so, leave a comment to let me know how your experience was!