This is the final blog post about my research. The next steps would be to
- conduct interviews with medical experts (neurologists and also psychologists spezialized in migraine)
- develop a first prototype
- evaluate the prototype by doing interviews with migraine patients to make sure this solution is truly tailored to their needs
The interviews with migraine patients are something I would really be interested in since the survey already revealed some new information to me. And in this case talking to different migraineurs is essential since the user group is diverse and so is their experience with their disease.
Dawn Buse, a clinical professor of neurology, shares, “Unlike visible illnesses that tend to elicit empathy, support, and help from people around [them], the invisible nature of migraine places the burden on the individual to advocate for themselves continually, which can be exhausting and emotionally taxing.” Living with migraine is both physically and mentally challenging which is why I decided to choose it as the topic for my investagation in the first place.
My goal was to gain a deeper understanding of this complex neurological disease and although it was frustrating to realize that many aspects of it are are still not investigated enough or unclear I was able to find helpful explanations of the current state of medicine.
Lastly I would like to share a website I stumbled across while researching about migraine apps. It is called www.migraineagain.com and I do believe it is one of the most helpful informative mediums I have found so far.
The articles are up-to-date (most of them from 2025) which ensures recent research is included and new findings e.g. about latest treatments are elaborated. From explanations about the disease, prevention methods, treatment the website also provides topics such as self care, work and life and community. This psychological part about the disease tends to be left out in apps and what I criticised about Migraine Buddy app.
I can recommend this page to everyone struggling with migraine as I found some articles to be really informative but also in easy language unlike research papers about the disorder. It also includes lots of illustrations or info images about migraine and the difference between triggers and the causes e.g. the images below.
In an article about migraine devices and treatments I learned about devices I had never heard of. The community of Migraine Again was asked in a poll to share their favorite medical devices for migraine. Since everything is briefly explained and the experience/ effectiveness is discussed an overview over rather “niche” devices is created.
I want to give you one example:
Earplugs by WeatherX are designed to prevent migraine attack symptoms triggered by weather changes. They work by slowing down the shift in barometric pressure. They can be used with their app, which offers customizable alerts to incoming barometric pressure changes.
I haven’t heard about these earplugs before and would be interested to test them out. But more important is the access to already reviewed methods or devices by other migraineurs to me. Educating the community and offering a newsletter to keep it updated seems like a great idea!
Sources:
