Local anaesthetic ‘helps to break migraine cycle of pain’

MIGRAINES could be relieved with a local anaesthetic, research suggests.

Around six million people in the UK suffer with migraines and the condition can lead to debilitating pain lasting for several hours.

For some sufferers, headaches persist despite treatment to ease symptoms.

Researchers examined the effectiveness of an infusion of lidocaine, a local anaesthetic, as an aid to “break the cycle” of pain among patients admitted to hospital.

The treatment, which is normally administered intravenously, has already been used for some patients with migraines which do not respond to treatment, but the evidence is “limited”, they said.

The team, led by academics from the University of Philadelphia, examined data on 609 patients who received the treatment alongside other migraine treatments.

Participants were asked to rate their pain before their hospital admission and as they left on a scale of zero to 10.

When they were admitted, the average pain score was seven. But after an infusion of lidocaine, along with other treatments, patients reported that their pain rating was, on average, just one.

Participants were followed up one to two months after they were discharged, and reported an average pain score of 5.5 out of 10.

They also said that they were experiencing fewer “headache days”, down from 27 days per month at the start of the study to 23 days at follow ups.

Researchers called for a larger study to confirm the findings and assess how lidocaine infusions could help people with chronic migraines who have not responded to other treatments.

In the Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine journal, they wrote: “Lidocaine infusions may be associated with short-term and medium-term pain relief in refractory chronic migraine.

“This study provides a rational basis for performing a randomised controlled trial to evaluate lidocaine infusions as an effective treatment for refractory chronic migraine.”

Last year, a study suggested that eating a portion of oily fish a day could protect against headaches and migraines.