Headache or Migraine? 9 Ways Migraine Is Different

Tension headache is common. Over 70% of the population will experience a tension headache in their lifetime.(1)

Migraine is also common but less so, with approximately 1 in 7 people experiencing migraine at some point.(2) That is still almost one billion people worldwide.

Is migraine just a bad headache? The answer is no. You don’t even need head pain to be diagnosed with migraine.

 Why is there so much confusion?

•  50% of those who experience migraine haven’t been diagnosed by a medical professional. (3)

This is the group most likely to believe they are experiencing bad headaches. The sad reality is that they are most likely suffering excessively because they are undertreating or treating the wrong condition. 

• Migraine has a wide range of severity.

Like autism, migraine isn’t the same for each person. There is a broad spectrum among those who experience it. On one end, some people experience vertigo or dizziness or visual distortions with no associated head pain. These are called Vestibular Migraine and Aura Without Migraine, respectively.

On the other side of the scale are crippling migraine attacks called Hemiplegic Migraine where individuals experience stroke-like symptoms. They can lose function of entire sections of their body. Some people are not able to move or walk. Debilitating pain is also present. Each individual with migraine experiences their condition differently.

• A painful headache is mistaken for migraine.

Another reason for the confusion is that many of those with tension headaches haven’t been to a doctor, they don’t really know what a migraine is and think because their headache is “bad” it must be a migraine. Without a personal diagnosis from a health professional to confirm their actual condition, this only spreads more confusion.

• Migraine is not well understood.

If you ask someone if they have heard of migraines, almost everyone you speak to you will say yes. Then ask them what a migraine is and very few can give you an accurate answer. The vast majority will say ”A bad headache?”.  If you were to ask them what symptoms distinguish their migraine from a tension headache very few offer anything but pain severity.

The World Health Organisation has confirmed this issue on a global scale and reported that migraines are under-diagnosed, undertreated and poorly managed. (1)

• You can’t see migraine or headache.

Very few signs of migraine are visible to the untrained eye. You may notice the blood drain from an individual’s face, vomiting or a drooping eye. But often there are no physical signs. So the only way to confirm a migraine is by relying on information from the individual.

• Some individuals seek attention or sympathy.

There are some people who exaggerate or enjoy the attention. They may well be experiencing a tension headache with moderate pain but they falsely self-diagnose themselves with migraine when a migraine is not present.

These are just a few reasons for the widespread confusion. You’ve probably heard someone say “I’ve got the worst headache. It’s a migraine.”

How do you know when someone is telling the truth?

If you’re facing this question yourself with a family member, friend or employee, the question to ask is “have you seen a doctor?” If someone has migraine, they should be getting treatment from a medical professional. Migraine is not like tension headache in that you can easily manage them by yourself or with basic treatments.

Any proactive migraine patient should have a treatment plan in place with their doctor with the aim of reducing their attacks and treating them properly when they do occur. If the individual hasn’t seen a doctor then their self-diagnosis cannot be substantiated.

Most genuine patients will not intentionally about having a migraine. Many are warriors who fight endlessly against their condition and work twice as hard just to appear normal.

Tension headache is common, annoying and is easy to exaggerate by using calling it a migraine.

It’s easy to label a bad headache a migraine.

If they had a cold or flu they wouldn’t say they have pneumonia. Why? Because it’s easy to disprove. Migraine does not have any blood tests and clear biological markers which make it harder to disprove and causes some skepticism.

Sometimes the skepticism may not end even with a doctors diagnosis. Many migraine patients are treated with suspicion, discrimination, and stigma.

Often it comes from close friends, family and employers who don’t really understand it. They’ve never experienced a migraine and may not even believe in the condition. See a list of some of the most common insults to migraine patients.

The stigma surrounding migraine for diagnosed patients is a problem. Those with chronic migraine endure more stigma than epilepsy.(4) They are also several times more likely to suffer depression and anxiety as a result of their condition.

Those who exaggerate and call their tension headaches a migraine are typically the loudest and most vocal. They drown out the legitimate migraine patients and help perpetuate the stigma and discrimination. Migraine patients are often the opposite. They know firsthand what’s it’s like to be judged and debilitated by actual migraine. They are quiet, polite, compassionate and considerate of others.

It’s a destructive cycle of ignorance and stigma.

The only way to solve it is with greater awareness and understanding of migraine.

How is a migraine different from the common tension headache?

 1)  Migraine tends to be one-sided. A tension headache is usually both sides.

2)  Migraine tends to be throbbing or pulsating quality versus pressure from a tension headache.

3)  Migraine gets worse with activity or movement, tension doesn’t. 

4)  Migraine is always associated with another symptom like nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light, sound and visual disruptions (aura).

To be diagnosed with migraine, there is at least one of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light or noise.

 Migraine patients can also experience a long list of other symptoms including:

• Aura – this is a term used to describe the visual disturbances that can occur during migraines. These can include dots, colored spots, sparkles, stars, flashing lights, tunnel vision, zigzag lines, blind spots and even temporary blindness.
• Sensitivity to odors and/or touch.
• Difficulty concentrating, poor articulation, cognitive impairment, and confusion.
• Diarrhea.
• Stiff neck or shoulders.
• Pins and needles, tingling or numbness.
• Weakness.
• Dizziness or vertigo.

5) Migraine Pain is usually moderate to severe pain versus tension headaches which are mild to moderate pain.

During a migraine attack over 90% of patients cannot function normally.(4) Over half of those with migraine experience severe impairment or require bed rest.(5)

6) Migraine doesn’t respond to many over the counter treatments.

Paracetamol/Acetaminophen (Panadol, Tylenol) and Ibuprofen (Nurofen, Advil) are some of the most common treatments for headaches. They can be helpful for some migraine patients, but for many they do little to ease the pain.

7) The duration for migraine and tension headaches differ.

To classify a migraine, attacks will last between 4 -72 hours without treatment. Tension headaches, on the other hand, can last a little as 30 mins but extend to 7 days. (7)

Migraine is also known to include several phases including the prodrome, aura, headache and postdrome.

Prodrome is the early warning phase where changes to the body that signal a migraine may be on its way. It may occur days or hours before the actual attack. Aura refers visual disturbances described above in the symptoms section. Headache is the pain from the migraine and postdrome occurs once the headache has passed. Even after the pain has dissipated, people may feel a wary haze afterward, like a migraine-hangover with changes in mood and mental cognition before they recover from the attack. (8)

8) Migraine is a neurological disease.

Whilst not contagious, migraine is a neurological disorder for which there is no permanent cure. The World Health Organisation (WHO) ranks migraine in the top 10 diseases world-wide causing disability. (9) WHO states that a severe migraine attack is one of the most disabling conditions, comparable to quadriplegia and dementia. (9)

9) Chronic migraine patients endure more stigma than epilepsy.

Recent findings have shown that chronic migraine patients experience more stigma than epilepsy and those with episodic migraine. (10) The research reports that victims of stigma “experience stereotyping, devaluation and discrimination”. Aside from the disease itself, stigma has a significant impact on quality of life, behavior and life opportunities. Interestingly, the ability to work was the strongest predictor of stigma for the individual. (10)

Conclusion

No one asked for this disease.

Many suffer with this condition and struggle to maintain a normal life despite it. As shown above, stigma in addition to migraine only makes things worse for the individual.

According to the Centre of Disease Control (CDC) in the US, 1 in 2 adults have at least one chronic health condition. (11) Chronic illness is extremely common. Now that you are aware of how migraine is different from tension headaches, hopefully you’ll be less likely to add to the stigma or discrimination. After all, with 1 in 2 adults experiencing a chronic condition, one day you might find yourself on the other side of the table.

Have you experienced any type of discrimination, shame or stigma because of your migraine or headache?