Main Types of Migraines You Need to Know About

A migraine is more than just a pain in the head. It's a neurological illness that causes your brain to become hypersensitive to particular triggers, both external and internal. It's frequently inherited. When something triggers an attack—lack of sleep, a drink of wine, a reduction in estrogen—the neuronal circuits in your brain become active abnormally and release chemicals, which trigger the attack's symptoms.

Even if you don't have head pain (which can happen! ), these attacks can completely disrupt your day or at the very least prevent you from driving for a few hours. It's no surprise, then, that migraines are the world's sixth most debilitating disease, according to the Migraine Research Foundation. And they're incredibly common—in the United States, nearly one out of every four families has someone who suffers from migraines. Because the disorder has a strong family history, it can affect children of any age, even babies. Three times as many women as males suffer from migraines as adults, and sure, hormones play a role, at least as triggers.

Episodic Migraines

The majority of migraine sufferers suffer from episodic migraines, which means they experience less than 15 attacks per month. In a poll of 13,000 migraineurs (migraine sufferers), 91 percent said they had episodic migraines. However, don't be deceived. Even if your migraines are more sporadic, you must still match the symptom criteria, which means that they can still knock you unconscious.

Nine out of ten Americans with the illness said they couldn't "function normally" on the days they had an attack, which may entail missing a social event or missing work, according to a landmark survey. About half of migraineurs are unable to do home tasks, which is understandable given that even the most mundane activities can aggravate your headache.

Every year, 2.5 percent of those who suffer from episodic migraines experience more headaches, increasing from one per month to several per week. What causes their illness to worsen? Surprisingly, taking too many headache medications, whether over-the-counter or prescription, can lead to addiction (though doctors are wary about prescribing them the way they once did). Rebound headaches can occur if you take more than the suggested dose or take them multiple times a week to relieve your pain. They may also make your sensitive brain more vulnerable to migraine symptoms.

Chronic Migraines

Chronic migraines, defined as more than 15 attacks per month, affect 2% of all Americans. The percentage of people who already suffer from migraines is 8%. Chronic migraine sufferers differ from individuals with fewer headaches in a variety of ways.

For one thing, their pain is more strong and intense, and it lasts longer even with medication. According to the poll respondents, their lives are also significantly impacted. Chronic migraine sufferers were three times more likely than episodic migraine sufferers to put off having children or have fewer children as a result of their headaches. Nearly twice as many chronic migraineurs claimed their work has been impacted (58 percent vs. 30 percent ).

Migraines With Auras

Auras occur in about 20% of migraine sufferers before the pain begins (although some sufferers do not have headaches at all). Auras are brain abnormalities that can last anywhere from five to 60 minutes and cause a variety of symptoms that are frighteningly similar to stroke.

Having migraines with auras can increase your chance of a transient ischemic attack, which is a type of stroke (TIA). Auras usually persist longer than TIAs, but length isn't a good method to determine the difference. If you've never had an aura before, you're over 40, your vision was obscured, and the aura lasted less than an hour, contact your healthcare professional to get timely migraine treatment.

Silent Migraines

These are headaches that have auras but don't cause pain. To put it another way, you've seen the flashing lights, zigzags, or other visual disturbances, but not the throbbing pain that usually follows the aura. You may also feel nauseous and be particularly sensitive to light and sound. Your triggers may be similar to those experienced by persons who suffer from other types of migraines, and you may experience this type in addition to others (i.e. migraines without auras).