If you are sure that your terrible headache is definitely not a migraine, it is better to check again. More than half of people with migraines have never been correctly diagnosed! So, it is important to know how to distinguish this condition from an ordinary headache.

What is a migraine?

This is a brain disease that is accompanied by unpleasant symptoms. Symptoms can last from four hours to three days. The reason for migraines has not been disclosed, but experts believe that genetics and the environment play a role. Symptoms appear due to changes in the chemical activity of the brain, which affect the central and peripheral nervous system.

How to distinguish migraine from ordinary pain

Migraines have certain symptoms before, during, and after an attack, but not all people experience the full set. These symptoms may increase gradually or begin suddenly. Sometimes it may start at night and you wake up with a migraine.

There are several obvious differences between a migraine and a headache, and if you have started experiencing something like this- do not rush to take pain medication, hoping that everything will go away, but consult a good physical therapist.

1. Strong ripple

This symptom means that you can feel the pulse right in your head. Or put a finger to the temple and feel the movement of blood through the veins. People with bright imagination feel like their heads are ready to explode. An ordinary headache is most often accompanied by a dull pain, which almost does not interfere with life.

2. Pain on one side

Migraines may be bilateral, but most often they occur only on the right or left, as opposed to headaches. Why this happens is unknown. Perhaps this is due to the trigeminal nerves (there is one on each side), and during a migraine, only one of them starts up.

3. Flashes of light appear before your eyes

During a migraine, a weak electric wave passes through the brain, the blood flow to the brain decreases, its work is slowed down. About 25% of patients see the so-called aura before or during an attack. It manifests itself as a visual disturbance: flashes of light and color, scattering of a picture into pixels, flashes on one side of the field of view, colored zig zags, etc. This almost never happens with ordinary headaches.

4. Weakness and tingling

A sensory aura may appear, which is accompanied by numbness, tingling, and even weakening of half the body. Some people find it difficult to pick up words or speak at all. This condition resembles a stroke, but it is not.

5. Nausea

Nausea happens with many migraine sufferers. In severe cases, it provokes vomiting. It has been established that the gastrointestinal tract has its own nervous system, and when the nerves in the brain turn on, neuroactivity also happens there. It is believed that during attacks, the digestive tract slows down a little.

6. Hypersensitivity

During a migraine, the brain is very excited, feelings are aggravated and you can see, hear, smell, and feel more. That is why patients are advised to lie down in a dark, quiet room.

7. The disease interferes with life

A migraine is not just a headache. It interferes with a normal life, forcing you to break skip out on plans t and miss work.

8. Feel very tired

At all stages of a migraine, there is a feeling that even a gallon of coffee will not help cheer you up. The brain is trying to free itself from pain, and it takes energy.

9. Pain moves to the neck

The trigeminal nerve sends signals to the brain and the spine, which can cause severe neck pain.