Dutch doctors offer a controversial treatment for migraines

Bilthoven

The Revive headache clinic in Bilthoven opened its doors last week. Wilbert Boek and Hubert Faber, ENT doctors at Gelderse Vallei Hospital in Ede, offer the treatment.

The surgery focuses on types of headaches caused by a disturbed interaction between a nerve in the forehead and a muscle just above it. “We solve the disturbance between nerves and muscles,” explained Dr. Wilbert Boek. ‘A relatively small intervention with a big impact.’

According to Boek, the operation has been done thousands of times around the world. According to him, the fact that the treatment was not yet available in the Netherlands is partly because migraine patients more often end up with a neurologist than with a surgeon. ‘Neurologist is not working.’