Digital self-management now with Apple Watch and migraine app

Note: Apple Watch has a pressure-sensitive screen. After starting, the app first shows the current overview. For quick entry, press your finger a little harder and more sustainably on the screen. The quick entry will then open.

Hamburg/Kiel, January 17, 2017. Counting, calling messages, checking appointments - digital timepieces have long been more than just indicated time and date. Now the first health treatments are reaching the wrist: from now on the first intelligent clock supports self -management chronic headaches with the Apple Watch. This is made possible by the therapy-supporting migraine app, which at the Pain Clinic Kiel under the direction of Prof. Dr. Hartmut Göbel was developed and which is made available nationwide in cooperation with the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK). With the help of the migraine app, pain curves and medication revenue can be documented, forms of headache and determines possible intervention events within the therapy. Since the launch in December 2016, more than 10,000 people have been using this freely available and free application initially on a iOS basis. From spring it will also be available for Android. It is specifically tailored to the needs of migraine and headache patients and not only records the course with active data input on a scientific basis. She analyzes them, informs the user and reacts adequately to alarming signals. The app also provides information about active behavioral measures and shows how the desired health goal can be achieved under medical supervision. It was developed together on the basis of decades of experience of specialized scientists, care experts and those affected.

With a finger tip for self -management

On the smartwatch, the headache features can now be recorded with a tap on the wrist without having to grab a smartphone. The course of the treatment is analyzed individually. Because the migraine app- unique in the world- provides the migraine and headache patients an immediate course and success analysis of the medical guided treatment with connection to the Apple Watch.

.

And this is how the app works

The migraine app uses other diverse features to either make future headache attacks less frequent or even prevent them altogether.
The relaxation method progressive muscle relaxation is included in the app and can be used and trained at any time. The migraine app reminds you of use, records and rewards use. Trigger factors such as local weather data are automatically added to the history so that connections can be recorded individually.

A chronicity test helps to analyze factors that cause or worsen headaches in a personalized manner. The migraine app also calculates the best time to treat headache attacks and supports the treating doctor during the course of therapy. The TK headache coaching, which is also included, provides extensive knowledge about the causes and treatment of headaches. Other features include the nationwide expert search, a media library with many information videos, direct access to the current international headache classification, live chats with experts and the nationwide digital self-help community Headbook. A version optimized for use by children is also included.

background

Minister Reinhard Meyer, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor and Transport of the State of Schleswig-Holstein, Dr. Johann Brunkhorst, head of the TK state representation in Schleswig-Holstein and Prof. Dr. Hartmut Göbel, director of the Kiel Pain Clinic, will discuss the possibilities of the digital future and networking for the benefit of patients using the example of the migraine app incorporating the Apple Watch at the “Networked Health” congress in Kiel, January 18, 2017.

Migraines and other forms of headache are epidemiologically among the most common and, after dementia and stroke, among the third most expensive diseases of the nervous system. They are one of the most common reasons for doctor visits and inpatient emergency admissions and cause serious disabilities and complications. Worldwide, more than 46 percent of the adult population suffers from an active headache disorder, eleven percent from migraines, 42 percent from tension-type headaches and three percent from daily persistent headaches. Headaches take third place on the World Health Organization's (WHO) list of the most disabling diseases. Around a million people in Germany alone suffer from migraine attacks every day. Of these, 100,000 are bedridden every day. Epidemiological studies in recent years have confirmed that migraine is associated with an increased risk of stroke, heart attack and other diseases of the cardiovascular system. In Germany, an average of 8.3 million people take headache medication every day for severe headaches. But treating headaches with medication also has a downside: Anyone who takes pain medication for more than ten days every month runs the risk of developing a headache from the medication itself. For this reason, pain doctors rely on self-management and patient responsibility for chronic headache disorders such as migraines. The migraine app from the Kiel Pain Clinic offers a suitable tool for this purpose, in which only the patient decides with whom they share their data and experiences alongside the treating doctor. The TK has no access to the data.

 Note for the editorial offices:

Further information on the digital offers of the TK is available at www.tk.de , Webcode 723220. Information about the app of the Pain Clinic Kiel is available at https://schmerzklinik.de/2016/10/01/die-migraene-app/ . The migraine app with all content can downloaded free of charge from the Apple store . An Android version is in preparation and will also be available as a full version with all content in the first quarter of 2017.

Press contact Pain Clinic Kiel:

Prof. Dr.
Hartmut Göbel hg@ pain clinic.de

Telephone: 0431-20099150