A Balloon Up The Nose For Migraine (no, seriously)

I’m sure everyone is jumping at the chance to have a tube stuck up your nose to treat a migraine attack. But then again, when the other options include injections, nasal sprays, daily pills – well, maybe a balloon up the nose isn’t the worst thing.

This is an actual treatment that’s being investigated for migraine. A more proper term is intranasal kinetic oscillation stimulation, and it was originally studied as a treatment for rhinitis, which for most of us is a stuffy, itchy nose.

So let’s break it down. “Kinetic oscillation” is a back and forth motion – basically, this thing vibrates. “Intranasal” means in the nose. So what we have is a little machine with a tube attached, with a little “balloon” at the end. The end is lubricated, and inserted into the nose. A headband is used just to keep the device in place.

Then, it’s “inflated” a little bit, and it begins to vibrate. It’s actually a very slight vibration. Treatment continues for a few minutes (in the case of the migraine study we’ll talk about below, it was 15 minutes), and then the tube is removed. And that’s about it!

For patients with congestion, the device did lessen symptoms somewhat. Although an already itchy nose – and sneezing! – were obvious drawbacks for them.

A study in 2014 also found benefits for migraine patients. Pain levels dropped significantly for those treated with the device (compared to placebo – by the way, you can read more about how the placebo worked in the study itself). In fact, 50% of the patients were pain-free soon after the treatment.

In addition, there seemed to be some improvement in the two months that followed. For example, 17% of the patients who had the treatment needed “rescue medication” for other attacks, whereas 76% of the placebo group reached for the pills.

This was admittedly a small study, but researchers have been interested in intranasal treatments of various kinds for many many years. As with many treatments, an initially strange, awkward treatment may be studied and refined into something very useful and even more effective in the future.

More information on this study here: Kinetic Oscillation Stimulation as Treatment of Acute Migraine: A Randomized, Controlled Pilot Study (pdf)

Meanwhile, if you are in Finland or Germany and have chronic migraine, you can be involved in a new trial for this device. More information here: Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of Intranasal Kinetic Oscillation Stimulation in the Preventive Treatment of Chronic Migraine