Using electricity to combat headache : Electrotherapy and tDCS in the 1870s/1880s and today

Abstract

Headache can be awidespread symptom as well as adisorder in itself. Headache syndromes such as migraine cause alot of distress, disability and overall socioeconomic costs. Pharmacological treatments are often limited in their efficacy as well as due to side effects. The therapeutic application of electricity for this medical indication was arelevant field of research in the 19thcentury and-in the form of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)-is still widely studied today. This paper provides an overview of publications from the late 19thcentury (as the era of discovery and success of electrotherapy) as well as contemporary studies investigating the usage of weak currents for the treatment or prophylaxis of headache. Our results show alarge number of highly favorable reports of treatment successes. However, the number of cases analysed is often rather small and the forms of electric stimulation applied were often highly heterogeneous. In summary, electric stimulation appears to be apromising field of research and apossible therapeutic agent for the treatment of headaches; however, further research is necessary, especially into the details of the stimulation techniques applied and the various indications in which it may be of use.