--- title: Migraines: Scientists Hail New Lidocaine Treatment description: The procedure involves administering lidocaine to the sphenopalatine ganglion, a nerve bundle behind the nose associated with migraines. canonical: https://time.com/3727990/migraine-new-lidocaine-treatment/ author: David Stout article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-02T06:35:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:47.403Z article:section: Health og:title: New Treatment For Migraine Shows Promise og:description: Researchers say the procedure drastically reduces pain and sensitivity to migraine triggers og:url: https://time.com/3727990/migraine-new-lidocaine-treatment/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9cfeb42b786e282/698781a055a8594b54a86175/headache.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: 485221893 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: New Treatment For Migraine Shows Promise twitter:description: Researchers say the procedure drastically reduces pain and sensitivity to migraine triggers twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9cfeb42b786e282/698781a055a8594b54a86175/headache.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A New Treatment for Migraines Is Showing Promising Results > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=f2787c30-60d5-44e7-a24e-15408c61bee5&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Google Working On Wearable Tech & Pill To Catch Diseases [Watch (HLS stream): Google Working On Wearable Tech & Pill To Catch Diseases](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DPSiDAV1.m3u8) (1:52)  _Published 2014-10-29. Google X — the team behind Google’s self-driving cars and glucose-measuring contact lenses — wants to tackle disease detection and prevention now._ by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Mar 2, 2015 6:35 AM UTC  Woman with head in hands Woman with head in hands Getty Images by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Mar 2, 2015 6:35 AM UTC Treating migraines effectively might have gotten a lot easier, according to a [new study](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150301092136.htm) published this month. Researchers at the Albany Medical Center claim that a new innovative treatment offers chronic migraine sufferers prolonged relief from the debilitating headaches. During the procedure, clinicians insert a spaghetti-size catheter through the patient’s nasal passages and administer lidocaine to the sphenopalatine ganglion — a nerve bundle behind the nose that is associated with migraines. It should be noted that no needles actually touch the patient during the process. “When the initial numbing of the lidocaine wears off, the migraine trigger seems to no longer have the maximum effect that it once did,” said Dr. Kenneth Mandato, the study’s lead researcher at Albany Medical Center. Following the procedure, 88% of patients reported that they required less or no migraine medication to provide additional pain relief. \[[_Science Daily_](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150301092136.htm)\] _Read next:_ [_8 Things You Don’t Know About Supplements_](http://time.com/3712325/supplements-vitamins/?xid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ## Transcript [00:00] Google X, you know, the team behind Google's self [00:02] driving cars and contact lenses that measure glucose [00:05] levels is at it again. This time, the company's looking to [00:09] tackle disease detection and prevention by pairing [00:12] tiny, tiny ingestible particles with a wearable device [00:16] that can monitor those particles. The concept itself isn't [00:19] too difficult to understand. Certain diseases have [00:22] specific biomarkers. In cancer, for example, disease [00:25] cells might have. Proteins not present in normal human [00:29] cells. Google's nano particles would be crafted to [00:32] target these bio markers, the proteins and cancer [00:35] cells, and communicate the information back to the [00:38] wearable device. It's all an attempt by Google to treat [00:41] diseases long before symptoms begin manifest. To [00:44] tackle breast cancer before a screening reveals a [00:47] tumor. In an interview with Backchannel, Google X [00:50] Project Manager Andrew Conrad said, this addresses a [00:53] flaw in modern medicine. Some cancers have a 90 % [00:57] success rate if you diagnose them in early stage one. [01:00] But most cancers have a five of 10 % survival rate if [01:04] you diagnose them in stage four. We're diagnosing [01:07] cancer at the wrong time. Realistically industry experts [01:11] say the tech is more than five years off. Off. The Wall [01:14] Street Journal points out Google still has plenty of [01:16] technical issues to address. How many nanoparticles [01:19] need to be ingested? How exactly will they target [01:22] specific cells? And one major social issue. In a society [01:26] that's increasingly favoring privacy over almost [01:29] anything else. How do you convince people to [01:31] essentially let Google invade their body? Despite it all, [01:34] a writer for The Verge notes more than 100 Googlers [01:37] are now working on the project. All working to [01:40] undermine what Andrew Conrad identifies as their foe, [01:44] unnecessary death. If you wanna learn more about [01:46] Google X's attempt at a tricorder, we recommend you [01:49] check out the entire interview over on back channel. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3727990/migraine-new-lidocaine-treatment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3727990/migraine-new-lidocaine-treatment/"},"headline":"A New Treatment for Migraines Is Showing Promising Results","datePublished":"2015-03-02T06:35:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:59:47.403Z","description":"The procedure involves administering lidocaine to the sphenopalatine ganglion, a nerve bundle behind the nose associated with migraines.","url":"https://time.com/3727990/migraine-new-lidocaine-treatment/","keywords":["Research","health","migraines","headaches"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9cfeb42b786e282/698781a055a8594b54a86175/headache.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9cfeb42b786e282/698781a055a8594b54a86175/headache.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"485221893","caption":"485221893","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3727990/migraine-new-lidocaine-treatment/","name":"A New Treatment for Migraines Is Showing Promising Results"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Google Working On Wearable Tech & Pill To Catch Diseases","description":"Google X — the team behind Google’s self-driving cars and glucose-measuring contact lenses — wants to tackle disease detection and prevention now.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/DPSiDAV1/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-10-29T14:30:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DPSiDAV1.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3727990/migraine-new-lidocaine-treatment/","duration":"PT1M52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3727990/migraine-new-lidocaine-treatment/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```