Migraine Myths and Reality

Myth #1: Migraines are easily recognized and diagnosed by doctors.

Reality:

Migraines are among the least properly diagnosed and most mistreated of all illnesses.

Up to 70% of migraines sufferers have never been properly diagnosed with having the illness. Migraines remain seriously underestimated and misunderstood, even among doctors treating the problem.

Myth #2: Migraines are annoying and uncomfortable, but there’s nothing life-threatening about them.

Reality:

Migraines can induce several life-threatening conditions such as stroke, aneurysms and coma.

27% of all strokes experienced by those under the age of 45 are preceded by a severe migraine headache. 25% of all cerebral infarctions are associated with migraines. In addition, studies have also found links between migraines and epileptic seizures.

Myth #3: Migraines are nothing more than really bad headaches.

Reality:

The headache is really just a symptom of a disease and the cause of the migraine pain is the opposite of the cause of the headache pain. Migraines are a disease that are genetically based. Those with a single parent who experience migraines themselves have a 50% chance of developing migraines.

Myth #4: Migraines are psychological in nature, caused by external environmental factors.

Reality:

A migraine is a neurological disease, not a disorder.

Migraines truly are neurological diseases, caused by physiological and not psychological triggers. Migraines happen when cranial blood vessels dilate, causing nerve endings to release serotonin, a crucial factor in the development of the headache.

Myth #5: Only women suffer from headaches.

Reality:

Women, men, adults and children all suffer from migraines.

While it’s true that the overwhelming majority of migraine patients are adult women, a significant number of suffers are male and an increasing number of children are being treated not just for migraines but for a particular type called abdominal migraines.

Myth #6: There’s no doubting about whether that headache you’re suffering is really a migraine or not. If you’ve got a migraine, you’ll know it.

Reality:

Millions of people suffer from migraines without having been correctly diagnosed or thinking that it’s just a regular tension headache.

Myth #7: If you aren’t suffering from the most severe symptoms like nausea and auras, then it’s probably not a migraine.

Reality: Only 20% of migraine suffers experience the kind associated with auras. And many never experience the more extreme symptoms such as nausea or vomiting.

Myth #8: My headaches are triggered by allergies or changes in the weather conditions; therefore they are probably sinus headaches.

Reality:

Allergic reactions and changes in the weather can trigger migraines, but they are never the cause. In addition, migraines are offer accompanied by symptoms such as a runny nose or watery eyes that can be mistaken for sinus-based headaches.

Myth #9: Migraines are caused by stress and tension.

Reality:

Again stress and tension can be triggers for migraines, but unlike tension headaches, migraines are not actually caused by any rise in your tension or stress levels.

Myth #10: Only hypersensitive, uptight, perfectionist, compulsive types get migraines.

Reality:

Research has been concluded that there is no such thing as a particular personality type who develops migraines. Therefore, put to rest all misconceptions you may have about a so-called “migraine personality."

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What is a Migraine Headache?

We’ve all heard the term before, but what exactly is a migraine headache? And how does it different from other types of headaches?

One way to tell it’s a migraine is by the length of time it lasts. A migraine isn’t going to go away in a half-hour. Unless you are very, very, very lucky. Chances are your headache, if it truly is a migraine, is going to last anywhere from four to seventy-two hours. Yes, that’s right. Seventy or more hours is not common, but neither is unheard-of. Should your headache last that long, of course, you should be in the emergency room. Don’t wait nearly that long to seek medical attention.

A migraine usually isn’t just a headache. Which is to say that one or more of the following usually accompanies a migraine: nausea, vomiting, extreme pain, sensitivity to lights, and auras. It is the aura component, perhaps, that most especially defines and differentiates a migraine, though, it must be admitted, some people do suffer migraines without experiencing auras. Therein lies the difficulty of treating migraines: No two are quite alike. Another person suffering from their own version of a migraine may never experience the symptoms you may experience with every migraine.

No reliable records on the number of people who suffer from migraines has ever been compiled, but it has been estimated that worldwide the number of sufferers could be as high as 100 million, though that number is definitely on the high end of estimations. Migraines are not limited to adults, either. Unfortunately, many children suffer from migraines. Regardless of how many migraine sufferers there really are, almost all estimates agree that two-thirds of migraine patients are women.

Actually, to speak of a migraine headache is somewhat misleading. In fact, there are really two types of migraines, the common migraine and the classic migraine. Although there are differences, both result from the dilation, or expanding, of blood vessels that had become constricted due to the release of seratonin. This dilation causes pain in the nerves. Both types can occur as infrequently as a few times a year or as often as a few times a week.

The common migraine is the slower to develop and is often preceded feelings of anxiety, depression or tiredness. In addition, you may find yourself subject to irritability, sudden cravings or bouts of unexplained yawning before the onset of a common migraine. Once the headache begins, a common migraine is almost always limited to just one side of the head.

The classic migraine develops in a much more complex way. In fact, there are four stages in the onset of a classic migraine headache: prodome, aura, headache, and postheadache.

The prodome stage, like the beginning of a common migraine, may begin with feelings of fatigue, irritability, or depression. The prodome stage takes about 24 hours before it slides into the aura stage.

The aura stage involves an expanding area of blindness caused the narrowing of blood vessels. The blind area is girdled by a shimmering border that may increase to include up to half your field of vision in each eyes. In addition, often there are visual disturbances such as bright spots, flashing flights, zigzagging lights. Sometimes sufferers also experience burning sensations or a weakness on one side of their body. Generally, this stage lasts anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour.

The third stage occurs when those constricted blood vessels dilate and blood literally gushes to the brain. At this point the headache as we think of it really begins with a severe, throbbing pain on one side of the head, though it is not uncommon for the pain to expand to include both sides of the head. The pain often gets magnified by bright lights or loud noises.

The fourth and final stage is the postheadache, characterized by tiredness to the point of outright fatigue.

Migraines differ from tension headaches in that tension headache pain tends to cover the entire head. On the other hand, it’s not uncommon for migraine pain to be localized not just on one side of the head, but sometimes in one particular spot of the head, such as at the temple or behind one ear. Read more on this article...