Headaches cause pain in your upper neck, face, and head. They differ in intensity and frequency. On the other hand, Migraine Headaches are intense and debilitating. They are a neurological disease that causes devastating throbbing pain, which can lay you in bed for several days.
South Valley Neurology has been serving the Bay area patients for more than a decade. The experts treat neurological conditions like migraines, dementia, Parkinson’s, etc. There are 150+ types of headaches and are categorized into primary and secondary headache disorders. The former are clinical diagnoses without involving any imaging study or blood tests. The latter is caused by another health problem.
Aura is a combination of symptoms associated with speech, sensory, and motor abilities. They are warning signals indicating the start of a migraine headache. Aura can last between 10 – 60 minutes. Light, sound, movement, etc. are triggers that can cause symptoms like visual disturbances, nausea, pain, numbness, tiredness, irritability, temporary visual loss, speaking issues, etc.
Types of migraines
There are several types of migraine headaches:
- With aura migraine [complicated]
- Migraine without aura [common]
- Hemiplegic migraine [patient experiences temporary paralysis or sensory or neurological change].
- Without head-pain migraine [aura symptoms without headache]
- Ocular or retinal migraine [complete, partial or total vision loss]
- Chronic migraine [Occurs within 15 days of frequency]
- With brainstem aura migraine [sudden symptoms of vertigo, balance loss, double vision, or slurred speech]
- Status migrainosus [lasts for more than 72 hours]
Migraine phases and timeline
- Prodrome or premonitory phase lasts for a few hours to several days.
- Aura lasts between 5 minutes to one hour.
- Headache lasts for 4 hours to a maximum of 72 hours.
- The postdrome phase is ongoing for a couple of days. It is called a migraine hangover.
Triggers of migraine
- Emotional stress.
- Missing meals.
- Allergies to chemicals or food.
- Extreme use of caffeine or withdrawal while quitting caffeine.
- Regular use of pain relievers.
- Hormonal imbalance in women.
- Light.
- Weather conditions, change in altitude. Strong winds.
- Overexertion.
- Dehydration.
- Loud noise.
- Change in regular sleep patterns.
- Certain medications.
- Exposure to strong odors like perfume or smoke.
Keep a migraine journal to help your doctor in the diagnosis process. Write the date and time when prodrome started along with specific symptoms. Monitor sleep patterns and stress triggers. Describe the pain from a 1-10 scale, whenever experienced. Write down the location of the pain and the medications taken to manage it in the migraine journal.
The doctor checks your medical and family history. They will ask questions to establish a history of migraine-related symptoms. The migraine journal can be helpful to avoid your condition being misdiagnosed as tension or sinus-related headache.
Migraine treatment
There are many ways to treat migraines. Two main treatments for chronic migraine headaches are –
- Abortive – When pain is mild Abortive medications are taken to decrease or stop the migraine symptoms.
- Preventive – Preventive medications are prescribed when headaches are severe and happen every week or hamper your normal activities.
As home remedies use cold masks or packs, stay in a darkened, quiet room, and sleep whenever necessary. Identify your triggers like stress, physical overexertion, low blood sugar, etc., and avoid them.
