Study demonstrates efficacy of wearable for treating menstrual migraine

Theranica, a prescribed digital therapeutics company developing electroceuticals for migraine and other pain conditions, announced today that a new peer-reviewed study published in Pain and Therapy demonstrates the efficacy of Nerivio in treating menstrual migraine. 

Menstrual migraine, a sub-type of migraine, is often more painful, more disabling and of longer duration compared to other types of migraine.  

Primary investigator Dr Hida Nierenburg, a board-certified neurologist and headache specialist with Nuvance Health, said: “Menstrual migraine is a significant challenge for traditional migraine treatments. This study provides hope for the many women whose migraine headaches are associated with menstruation. The Remote Electrical Neuromodulation therapy provides patients with a non-pharmaceutical option that is safe and effective. This can be an especially important option for women who are taking other medications and may be at risk for drug-drug interactions.”  

The study included 91 women suffering from pure menstrual migraine or menstrual related migraine. The participants answered a structured questionnaire about their use of Nerivio to treat their menstrual migraine and associated symptoms. 74.7% of participants reported that the treatment was at least moderately effective, with 37.4% responding very or extremely effective. All patients found the treatment tolerable and the few side effects experienced were mild and short term.  

Linus Chuang, a board-certified specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology and co-investigator in the study, commented that patients in the study also observed some improvement in menstrual cramping. 75 participants in the study experienced menstrual cramps in addition to migraines. Of those, 38.7% reported that REN was at least moderately effective in relieving the cramps. 38 patients also experienced pelvic pain and of those, 36.8% reported relief in pelvic pain following use of the device. 

Liron Rabany, chief scientist of Theranica and co-author of the new paper, said: “Migraine is much more prevalent among women than men, especially during their menstruation years. Demonstrating these positive study results specifically for menstrual migraine is therefore highly important in solidifying the key role that Remote Electrical Neuromodulation can have in the therapy toolkit of every woman with migraine.”

A study published earlier this year in The Lancet Neurology says that menstrual migraine affects 20%-25% of female migraineurs, and that in women diagnosed with menstrual migraine, perimenstrual migraine attacks are associated with substantially greater disability than their non-menstrual attacks.