Mayo Clinic Minute: Prevent migraines with magnetic stimulation

March, 13th, 2025

A migraine. It’s much more than a headache. And it can be debilitating.

“It’s a neurologic disease that has light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, motion sensitivity, nausea, vomiting. There are so many components,” says Dr. Starling.

There is no cure for migraine but there is a new option cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the acute and preventive treatment of migraine.

“The device is called a single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation device,” says Dr. Starling.

She says the device transmits a signal to the brain, reducing brain hyperexcitability.

“Place it on the back of the head just like that (beeping) and then you push these two buttons,” says Dr. Starling. “And that administers a pulse.”

The first step, says Dr. Starling, is to get people with migraine to their health care provider so they can be properly diagnosed and treated.