Headache Disorders
Migraine Behind the Mask: Making a Difference Together
What Does Migraine Look Like For You? Every year, Migraine Meanderings asks our migraine community to participate in the Migraine Behind the Mask awareness campaign. This migraine advocacy campaign aims to help people without migraine better understand what life with migraine is like. Migraine is a highly stigmatized disease, and our campaign lets people with…
Read MoreMigraine Myths: My Insurance Determines the Migraine Meds I Can Take
Many people think that they have to take the medications their insurance requires rather than those their doctor prescribes. This is not true, although sometimes we do have to follow certain steps in order to get approval. Read this blog and follow the tips below to help get your migraine medications covered by your insurance…
Read MoreMigraine Myths: You Get Migraine Because You Don’t Take Care of Yourself
Do you ever feel judged for having migraine? Like everyone in your life believes that if you were just a little healthier you would be cured and feel better? Or maybe it’s you who is hard on yourself when a migraine attack strikes. Have you ever blamed yourself for an attack and thought … “If…
Read MoreMigraine Comorbidities: Temporomandibular Disorders
Have you ever experienced facial or jaw pain during your migraine attack? If so, you are definitely not alone. While facial pain can be due to conditions such as trigeminal neuralgia, it could also be a temporomandibular disorder that is to blame. In this, the last of our current comorbidities series, we are going to…
Read MoreMigraine Myths: Only Medication Can Help Migraine
Don’t we all wish there was a magic pill that could cure our migraine forever?! Unfortunately, that is just not the case. Migraine is a complex neurological disease that presents itself on a wide spectrum of frequency, severity, symptoms, attack triggers, and responses to treatments. While medication is an important part of any treatment toolbox, it’s…
Read MoreIs It a Sinus Headache or a Migraine?
Have you ever had a sinus infection and then got a migraine attack? If so, you’re not alone in this. In fact, pain caused by the sinuses and migraine attacks can have very similar symptoms, so much so that it can be hard to know which type of pain you are experiencing. However, identifying the…
Read MoreMigraine Symptoms: Central Autonomic Parasympathetic Symptoms
Many people with migraine experience central autonomic parasympathetic symptoms. This
unique set of symptoms are rarely recognized as being part of migraine, which often leads to
misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatments. Though these symptoms are underrecognized, they
are actually fairly prevalent, and learning to recognize them may help guide diagnosis, provide
insight into treatment options, and help us understand the overarching burden of migraine
disease.
Ten More Primary Headache Diagnoses
Did you know there are 10 more primary headache diagnoses outside the categories of migraine, tension and trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia? While these are lesser known, they have diagnostic significance. Understanding your diagnosis can help you target your treatment. Some require excluding other causes before making the diagnosis. This blog will sort through what sets these apart.
Read MoreOccipital Neuralgia and Facial Pain
While trigeminal neuralgia is the most common of the facial pain diagnoses, there are others that cause facial pain. Understanding the various pain sensations and how they arise can help patients have better conversations with healthcare providers and look at different treatment options to best address the symptoms. Of the conditions explored in this blog, occipital neuralgia is the most prevalent, which stems from a spinal nerve but causes pain to be experienced in the head.
Read MoreTrigeminal Neuralgia & Facial Pain
A Complex and Acutely Painful Condition Trigeminal neuralgia, while a rare disorder, is one of the more commonly heard of facial pain disorders. In 2021, “The Good Doctor” and “Chicago Med” both featured a patient with what is nicknamed “the suicide disease.” In both cases, they had successful microvascular decompression surgery performed leaving many to…
Read MoreDo You Know What Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgia Is?
Trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia (TAC) is a group of primary headache disorders. The one most commonly heard of is cluster headache. This group of headache disorders are strictly unilateral, which means they cause symptoms only on one side of the head. They usually involve symptoms such as a red watery eye, stuffy or runny nose, forehead sweating, swollen droopy eye, and/or unilateral pupil constriction – these are known as cranial parasympathetic autonomic features. While this group of headache disorders has these common traits and are known as TACs, there are also important differences which help determine the most appropriate diagnosis.
Read MoreDo I Have Migraine or Cluster Headaches?
Migraine disease and trigeminal autonomic cephalgia (TAC – which includes cluster headache) are two different primary headache disorders. While it is possible to have both, one does not morph into the other, the severity of migraine does not change the diagnosis, and there is no such thing as “cluster migraine”! Accurate diagnosis is crucial but can be tricky, so it’s important to work with a certified headache specialist who can help you navigate this process and figure out what treatments might have a higher success rate for you. Knowing some of these key differences between migraine and cluster will help with that process:
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