Migraine

Migraine

Migraine is a chronic type of headache that occurs in episodes and affects the day to day activities of an individual. It usually affects one side of the head. Between migraine episodes, the patient is absolutely free of pain. Migraine is the most common neurological condition in the developed world.

Submitted by PatientsEngage on 19 November 2014

What is migraine

Migraine is a chronic type of headache that occurs in episodes and affects the day to day activities of an individual. It usually affects one side of the head. Between migraine episodes, the patient is absolutely free of pain. Migraine is the most common neurological condition in the developed world. A migraine attack can come with an aura, which means a sense of warning, or without an aura. Migraines are three times more common in women than men.

Migraine can affect anyone from children to the elderly. It progresses through four stages: Prodrome, aura, migraine attack, and postdrome. Individuals can experience any of the following stages:

-Prodrome – One or two days before migraine you might notice some symptoms such as body or neck stiffness, irritability, depression, frequent urination, nausea, food cravings, or difficulty in sleeping.

-Aura – It can be experienced before or during migraine. Visual disturbances, temporary loss of sight, numbness or tingling are experienced. It can last up to 60 minutes.

-Migraine attack – Throbbing, drilling, burning pain, nausea, anxiety, insomnia, neck pain or nasal congestion can be experienced. It can last up to 4 to 72 hours if untreated.

-Postdrome – Individuals may feel drained and confused for a day. Fatigue, difficulty in concentrating and mood swings can be experienced.

Read lived experiences of persons with Migraine here

Changed

30/Mar/2025

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Neurological Conditions

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Migraine

Stories

6 Top Migraine Triggers and Pro-active Management of Migraine

Porrselvi A.P. a cognitive and psychosocial interventions specialist shares the six common migraine triggers for men and women. And what you should do to pro-actively manage your migraine. Migraine is a severe, recurring and throbbing pain, usually on one side of the head. It is a chronic neurological disorder in which a throbbing, pulsating type of headache is only a symptom. Migraine is actually caused by the uneven vasodilation of the cranial blood vessels (…
Management of Migraine

How to effectively manage migraine Patient education and trigger avoidance: The patient needs to understand the nature of the headache and what triggers it. The triggers need to be avoided. To help, the patient can keep a pain diary to record the features, duration and intensity of pain, along with trigger factors and associated symptoms. The treatment options are listed here Know your support team: Who can help General practitioners Neurologists Internal medicine specialists Specialists in…
Migraine Treatment

Treatment Options for Migraine Acute medicines: taken at the time of an attack Analgesics like paracetamol for pain Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen Anti-emetics to prevent nausea and vomiting Triptans to treat an acute attack Ditans like lasmiditan Dihydroergotamine like prochlorperazine Gepants – Ubrogepant, Atogepant and Rimegepant, these don’t cause rebound or medication overuse headache like some other drugs. Combination of these acute medicines for…
Migraine Causes and Triggers

Causes of Migraine Causes are multifactoral with various genetic and environmental factors playing important roles. The patient may have a history of migraine in the family. Mutations of the gene in chromosome 1 and 19 are responsible for positive family history. Disturbances in the release of certain brain chemicals called serotonin and dopamine may also cause migraine. Migraine has two parts: 1) the aura and 2) the headache. (Symptoms of aura are mentioned below.) Cerebral blood vessels…
Migraine Diagnosis and Tests

How is Migraine diagnosed? Migraine cannot be diagnosed clearly by neuroimaging yet. Neuroimaging, like MRI, is done to exclude other conditions associated with headache, like a blood clot in the brain. Migraine diagnosis is based on history. The clinical criteria to confirm migraine are: Migraine without aura At least 5 headache attacks (in 15 days or more per month for more than 3 months) fulfilling 2 to 4 of the criteria given below. Headache lasting 4 to 72 hours The headache has at least…
Types of Migraine and Complications

There are various types of migraine as mentioned below: Migraine without aura – the most common type of migraine with a pulsating headache on one side of the head. Migraine with aura – headache affected by flashing or wavy lights. Older people are more prone to it. An aura can manifest as visual disturbances like flashes of light or blind spots or other symptoms such as difficulty in speaking and tingling on face or arm or leg. Chronic migraine – occurs 15 days per month over three months or…
Migraine Symptoms and Signs

Symptoms of Migraine Migraine pain can vary from mild to severe. If mild, patient has a tight feeling in the head and neck. In a severe migraine attack, the patient experiences throbbing pulsatile (pulsating) pain, which spreads to the shoulder and neck, too. Pain in adults may last for 4 to 72 hours, whereas in children it lasts for 2 to 4 hours. There are 4 phases in a migraine attack. They are: Premonitory phase: This phase is also called prodromal symptom, which includes physical…
Migraine Prevention

Prevention of migraine attacks ⦁ Recognise your triggers and avoid them. ⦁ Stay hydrated and get enough sleep. ⦁ Follow stress reduction techniques or relaxing techniques. ⦁ Alternately, your doctor may prescribe preventive medications like beta blockers calcium channel blockers, monoclonal antibodies etc . These drugs reduce the frequency and intensity of the migraine attack. Read more on these options here References 1…
Migraine

What is migraine Migraine is a chronic type of headache that occurs in episodes and affects the day to day activities of an individual. It usually affects one side of the head. Between migraine episodes, the patient is absolutely free of pain. Migraine is the most common neurological condition in the developed world. A migraine attack can come with an aura, which means a sense of warning, or without an aura. Migraines are three times more common in women than men. Migraine can…