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Controlling Brain Pain

Great news for those of you who suffer from chronic migraines. Doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago have been treating migraine sufferers by implanting electrodes in patients to stop the pain.

The electrodes are very small, and they go under the skin near where the migraine pain originates. A wire attached to the electrodes runs under the skin behind the ear and down the neck to a small battery pack beneath the collarbone. The point of all this wiring is that the electrodes disrupt the nerves that sense migraine pain. By stimulating the nerves with electronic impulses, the electrodes distract them from sending migraine pain signals to the brain.

It seems to actually work. The doctors at Northwestern have reported dozens of successful cases. Many of their chronic migraine patients are now more or less free of pain.

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