Timo Tovsa
Pollosenlahdenk. 9.A.6, SF-74130 Iisalmi, Finland
Since Dec 5th 1994 I have treated and followed 10 successive patients, who told me that they had migraine or headache on one or both sides of the head. The magnets (diameter 5 mm, thickness 2,5 mm, 700-800 Gauss, north pole against the skin) were put usually by the patient self in average for 1-2 weeks onto the skin on the area of acupoint GB34 (Yanglingauan, on the peroneal area of the leg) for one or several courses
Five of them can be counted as drop-outs:
Three (3) because of insufficient relief: Both (2) patients with common migraine (women 49-55y) and one ( 1 ) man (79y) with bitemporal headache with visual aura.
One ( 1 ) man (84y) with headache with cluster-headache-like symptoms because the symptoms were so mild and rare (5-10 minutes once or twice a month).
One ( 1 ) woman with migraine with aura (30y) because of old skin allergy, although she got a lot of relief for 7 months. The effect was nearly totally lost 3 months later.
Now there are left 5 patients:
Three (3 ) patients with classical monotemporal headache with visual aura: one man (71y) and two women (52-66y), follow-up (mean) 24 months. Before treatment each of them had 2-4 attacks with migrenous headache in a month. Now during the last year: 2 of them (Pat. 3 and 5) have been symptomfree without magnets. One other patient (Pat. 1 ) has had visual aura 5 times. These prodromes were treated with skin magnets, caffeine or automassage and no headache followed.
One ( 1 ) man (88y) with everyday headache since 1986 with clusterheadche-type svmptoms on the right and duration of one hour got some relief during 7 months time of treatment. Then he got hemiparesis to the left with increased desorientation. Headache seems to be more mild until now. One ( 1 ) man, whose migraine was cured 3 years ago with acupuncture, got 3 visual prodromes (one of them until mild headache) in 1995, which were immediately treated with skin magnets and the symptoms settled within 30 minutes without progression.
This method is worth of more study in the treatment of migraine with aura.