How Often Do Migraines Occur – A migraine is much more than a severe headache. This neurological disease can cause debilitating, throbbing pain that can leave you in bed for days! Movement, light, sound, and other triggers can cause symptoms such as pain, fatigue, nausea, blurred vision, numbness and tingling, irritability, difficulty speaking, temporary loss of vision, and more.
Migraine is a common neurological disease that causes a variety of symptoms, most notably a throbbing, throbbing headache on one side of the head. Your migraine is likely to worsen with physical activity, light, sounds, or smells. It can last at least four hours or even days. About 12% of Americans have this genetic disorder. Studies show that it is the sixth most disabling disease in the world.
How Often Do Migraines Occur
There are over 150 types of headaches, divided into two categories: primary headaches and secondary headaches. A migraine is a primary headache, meaning it’s not caused by another medical condition. Primary headaches are clinical diagnoses, meaning there are no blood tests or imaging studies to diagnose them. A secondary headache is a symptom of another health problem.
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The aura is a group of sensory, motor, and speech symptoms that usually act as warning signals that a migraine headache is about to begin. Often misinterpreted as a seizure or stroke, it usually occurs before a headache, but can sometimes occur during or even after. The aura can last from 10 to 60 minutes. About 15% to 20% of people experiencing migraines have auras.
The four stages in chronological order are prodrome (pre-monitors), aura, headache, and postdrome. About 30% of people experience symptoms before the onset of a headache.
Experts estimate that nearly half of the adult population experiences headaches, and 12% of Americans suffer from migraines. Women are about three times more likely to suffer from migraines than men.
It’s hard to predict who might get migraines and who might not, but there are risk factors that can make you more prone to migraines. These risk factors include:
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The frequency of a migraine can be once a year, once a week, or any time in between. Two to four migraine headaches per month are the most common.
Migraines tend to run in families. As many as four out of five people with migraine have a family history. If one parent has a history of migraines, their child has a 50% chance of having them. If both parents have a history of migraines, the risk jumps to 75%. Again, up to 80% of people with migraine have a first-degree relative with the condition.
First, discuss your symptoms with your GP. They can diagnose migraine headaches and start treatment. You may need a referral to a headache specialist.
There is a small risk of stroke in people with migraines with aura – 1 or 2 people in 100,000.
Migraine Stages: Prodrome, Aura, Headache, And Postrome
The main symptom of migraine is headache. The pain is sometimes described as pounding or throbbing. It can start as a dull ache that develops into a throbbing pain that is mild, moderate, or severe. If left untreated, the headache will become moderate to severe. The pain may travel from one side of the head to the other, or it may affect the front of the head, the back of the head, or feel like it affects the entire head. Some people experience pain in the eye or temple area, and sometimes in the face, sinuses, jaw, or neck.
The cause of migraine headaches is complex and not fully understood. When you have a headache, it’s because specific nerves in your blood vessels send pain signals to your brain. This releases inflammatory substances into the nerves and blood vessels of the head. It’s not clear why your nerves do this.
There are several smartphone apps you can use to keep a migraine diary if you don’t want to use pen and paper.
To diagnose a migraine, your health care provider will obtain a thorough medical history, not just your headache history, but your family history as well. In addition, they will want to establish a history of your migraine-related symptoms, possibly asking you to:
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Your doctor may also order blood tests and imaging tests (such as CT scans or MRI scans) to make sure there are no other causes of your headache. An electroencephalogram (EEG) may be ordered to rule out seizures.
Sometimes you or your health care provider may assume that the pain you are experiencing is sinus pain or a tension-type headache. Show your migraine diary to your doctor so they can learn about your unique situation.
Migraine headaches are chronic. They cannot be cured, but they can be managed and possibly improved. There are two main treatment approaches that use medication: abortifacient and preventative.
Over-the-counter medications are effective for some people with mild to moderate migraines. The main ingredients in painkillers are ibuprofen, aspirin, paracetamol, naproxen and caffeine.
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Be careful when taking over-the-counter painkillers. Sometimes overusing them can cause rebound headaches or an addiction problem. If you are taking any over-the-counter pain medication more than two to three times a week, report it to your doctor. They may suggest prescription medications that may be more effective.
Migraine pain relief medications come in a variety of forms, including pills, tablets, injections, suppositories, and nasal sprays. You and your doctor will discuss the specific medication, combination of medications, and formulations to best address your unique headache.
All medications should be used under the guidance of a headache specialist or healthcare professional familiar with migraine therapy. As with any medication, it’s important to follow the instructions on the label and your doctor’s instructions carefully.
Biofeedback is the use of special equipment attached to the head. The equipment measures the physical tension in your body and alerts you when you need to control your stress, which changes stress-related physical processes. You will not have to use the equipment indefinitely, because you will learn to detect the voltage yourself. The device works on both children and adults.
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Avoid migraine medications when you are pregnant or if you suspect you may be pregnant. They can negatively affect the baby. With your doctor’s permission, you can take a mild pain reliever such as acetaminophen.
There is no cure for migraine headaches, but you can take an active role in managing them, perhaps reducing their frequency and possibly controlling their severity by following these tips:
Migraines are unique to each person. Likewise, the way you deal with a migraine is also unique. The best results are usually achieved by learning and avoiding personal migraine triggers, managing symptoms, using preventive methods, following your doctor’s instructions, and reporting any significant changes as soon as they occur.
You may experience migraine headaches for the rest of your life. If your migraines are caused by your period, you may stop having them once menopause begins.
How Long Will My Migraine Attack Last?
Migraine headaches can be devastating and prevent you from going to work, school or other daily activities. Fortunately, there are several ways to prevent migraines and other ways to manage and endure symptoms. Work with your doctor so migraines don’t rule your life.
The Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Ads on our site help support our mission. We do not endorse products or services other than Cleveland Clinic. Policy. This is no joke, and they often seem to last forever. But how long does the average migraine attack last? And is there any way to shorten it?
While there is no crystal ball that can predict the length of a single migraine attack, on average it can last anywhere from 4 to 72 hours. That’s right: up to 3 damn days. (That’s longer than Britney’s marriage to her childhood friend Jason Alexander in 2004.)
Migraine attacks occur in four stages. Stages vary in length – you can spend more time on one stage than on another, or even skip a stage. Just as each person is unique, so is each migraine attack.
Recognising Pre Migraine Symptoms
These symptoms are often completely unrelated to headaches, so they can be difficult to identify. They usually last from 1 to 24 hours before you move on to the next phase.
Now don’t think we’re trying to get all the woo-woos here (although there’s nothing wrong with a little woo!). The aura phase is a legitimate phenomenon that affects up to 25 percent of people who experience migraine attacks.
Auras have a wide variety of neurological symptoms that usually occur before a major attack in adults. But sometimes they can happen at the same time as part of the headache during a migraine attack, especially in children.
Auras can also affect hearing or speech, and in rare cases cause fainting or partial paralysis. Aura symptoms usually last 5 minutes to an hour and sometimes occur without a headache.
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“Main Attack” sounds like a cool name for a wrestler, and the pain can certainly feel like being hit over the head with a chair, but it’s really the crescendo of a migraine attack.
Since many attacks do not involve aura symptoms, this stage can happen correctly
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