Symptoms of Migraines

Headaches are felt in different parts of the brain. Migraines are usually fell on one side of the head toward the other, radiating back towards the base of the brain. However, there are also several different types of migraine headaches, all of which have different symptomatology and clinical presentation.

The symptoms of the most common migraines include throbbing or pulsating headache on one side of the head, moderate to severe intensity and the headache continues to get worse with routine physical activity. Some people find that they have an increased risk of nausea which may or may not lead to vomiting and most people find that they are highly sensitive to light, noise and sometimes smells.

Another symptom of a migraine is the aura. An aura is a neurological phenomenon that will be experienced between 10 and 30 minutes prior to a migraine headache. Most auras are visual and can be described as shimmering lights around weighty images, hallucinations, flashing lights or zigzag lines. Other people may experience a temporary loss of vision while others have an aura that does not involve their visual perception at all. Nonvisual auras include motor weakness, language abnormalities, dizziness, tingling or numbness of the face, or extremities as well as speech abnormalities.

Other individuals will experience a migraine with out the aura. Those who have a migraine without an aura will have the headache on in either one side or the other and will also experience mood changes or tiredness the day before the headache.

Abdominal migraines are the most common type of migraines experienced by children who have a family history of migraine. The symptoms of these migraines do not include headache. Children will experience abdominal pain without any gastrointestinal cause that can last up to 72 hours. These children also experience nausea, vomiting, flushing or paleness of the face and skin. Children who suffer from it abdominal migraines often go on to develop typical migraines as they age.

A basilar migraine is a specific type of migraine which involves a disturbance of the brainstem. Symptoms usually include severe headache, double vision, slurred speech and poor muscle coordination. Because these individuals have symptoms that often look like a stroke or appear as if they are under the influence of drugs, physicians and law enforcement agencies often mistake what is happening to the individual. People who suffer from basilar migraine headaches should wear a medical alert bracelet or necklace so that they can get the most appropriate treatment possible as soon as possible.

Ocular migraines are a type of migraine that begins with a headache felt in the eye and is almost always accompanied by vomiting. As the headache progresses the eyelid on the side of the head which is affected will droop in the nerves responsible for the eye movement can become paralyzed. The high drooping can actually last four anywhere between a couple of hours and several weeks.

Migraines affect about 30 million people in the United States today. They can occur at any age but usually begin between the ages of 10 and 40. People who experience migraine headaches often report that they diminish and the frequency after the age of 50. Some people experience several migraines a month while others have only a few migraines throughout their entire lifetime. The majority, approximately 75%, of migraine sufferers are women and this incidents can increase when the women are pregnant.

Because of the severity of the symptoms and the frequency in which they occur much research has gone into prevention and treatment of migraine headaches. These headaches are often debilitating and can increase lost work time for both the employee and the employer. Research has been ongoing to uncover how and why migraine pain increases, how to block the increase in pain, how to decrease the sensitivity of the brainstem of migraine sufferers and genetic research into why migraines appear to occur more frequently in some families than others.

With the increased amount of research as well as improved imaging technologies, researchers and physicians have begun to develop better treatment protocols and have a better understanding as to how and why migraine headaches occur. Although the symptoms and clinical presentations can be frightening and debilitating, hope continues to ride on the future and medications available today are able to offer successful and effective treatment for many.