How can technology help people live better with migraine? Discover how neurologist Dr Surat Tanprawate is rethinking migraine care through Smile Migraine.

Migraine is more than a headache. For people who live with it, an attack can interrupt work, family time and even the simplest daily routines. Yet managing the condition often means waiting until symptoms appear before seeking relief. As technology becomes a bigger part of healthcare, digital tools are creating new ways to understand conditions and support patients beyond the hospital.

Dr Surat Tanprawate, a neurologist and co-founder of health-tech start-up Smile Migraine, is exploring how these tools can help people recognise their symptoms, understand potential triggers and take a more active role in managing their condition.

“I believe that we find purpose in life when we help others and create positive change through the abilities we have. There are many ways to live our lives, so let us not take that opportunity for granted. Instead, let us use what we have to create something meaningful and share it with the world and the people around us.”

A Doctor Looking Beyond the Consultation Room

Assistant Professor Dr Surat Tanprawet has built his career around neurology, medical education and healthcare innovation. He is a lecturer at Chiang Mai University and President of the Headache Club of Thailand. His work also spans public health emergencies, elderly care and medical technology.

One issue that continues to shape his work is migraine, particularly the reliance on painkillers for relief. Frequent use of acute headache medication can sometimes lead to medication-overuse headaches. This creates a difficult cycle.

As he puts it:

“The more you use the medicine, the more you get headaches.”

His search for a better approach eventually took him beyond clinical practice and into health technology. The turning point came when Startup Thailand held an event in Chiang Mai. After visiting, Surat began to see how start-up innovations could be combined with medical knowledge to address healthcare challenges. The idea sparked his interest in the start-up world and inspired him to organise the Chiang Mai Health Tech Innovation event. There, he connected with entrepreneurs, explored new ideas and began learning about design thinking and product development.

Surat began with creating the Smile Migraine Facebook group, an online community where people with migraine could share experiences and discuss their challenges. These conversations helped him understand what patients really needed and shaped the development of the Smile Migraine application, launching in 2018. 

Smile Migraine: A New Approach to Care

Smile Migraine brings medical expertise and digital technology together in one platform. Its purpose is to help people understand their migraines, recognise patterns in their symptoms and find support beyond their hospital visits.

At the heart of the application is a severity assessment system developed through Surat’s research. It gives users a structured way to record and evaluate their symptoms. The research behind this system received First Prize for Research Presentation at the Neurological Society of Thailand’s 2022 Annual Academic Meeting, under the topic of migraine status.

The application also looks beyond symptoms themselves. Its personalised AI notification system uses environmental information, including temperature, humidity and weather conditions, to alert users when these factors may increase their risk of an attack. Specialist guidance remains an important part of the experience, with medical knowledge at the centre of its approach.

Surat and his team are also developing Tele-Migraine, a service that will connect users with doctors who specialise in headache disorders. Migraine is particularly suited to this form of consultation because doctors can assess many aspects of the condition through established diagnostic criteria and information provided by patients. The service aims to make specialist advice easier to access, regardless of where patients live.

Making Room for Better Days

Surat hopes Smile Migraine will one day become part of standard migraine care, alongside medical consultations and treatment. His ambition is to make a difference far beyond the people who use the app.

“When we help one person with migraine become stronger, both physically and mentally, we hope that positive change can reach more than 10 million people in Thailand and over one billion around the world. We want them to find happiness, pursue their dreams and enjoy a fulfilling quality of life, just like everyone else.”

The same mission extends to the Smile Migraine YouTube channel, which shares accessible advice on chronic headaches and migraine, from causes and prevention to treatment and everyday management. For Surat, better understanding is another step towards helping people live well with the condition.