Ear Acupuncture Shows No Edge Over Placebo

Migraines are far more than severe headaches. Attacks bring pounding pain on one side of the head, nausea, and acute sensitivity to light and sound. Scientists now attribute them to the trigeminovascular system, a network of nerves and blood vessels in the head. When it misfires, nerve fibres release a chemical called CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide) that switches on the brain's pain network. An attack unfolds in four phases, often beginning a day beforehand with yawning, fatigue or unusual food cravings. That sequence overturns an old assumption: the migraine causes the craving, researchers say, rather than the chocolate or cheese causing the migraine. Roughly 30 percent of sufferers then experience an aura of visual or speech disturbances, followed by pain that can last up to 72 hours. Women are affected at least twice as often as men.

The World Health Organization (WHO) ranks migraine among the ten most disabling conditions globally, and Alexandra Sinclair, professor of neurology at the University of Birmingham, argues that stigma has long delayed proper treatment. Drugs that block CGRP, taken as tablets called gepants or given as monthly injections, have transformed care over the past five years, but they remain expensive and difficult to access. Bella now plans a larger trial. Christina Dalla, who chaired the FENS Forum and was not involved in the research, cautioned that ear stimulation should be regarded as complementary to existing migraine therapies, not a replacement for them.