Does your head feel like it’s pounding and won’t stop? Is it such a bad headache that you’re sensitive to sight or sound—maybe even feeling nauseous? If so, you’re most likely experiencing a migraine. Migraines are more than just headaches; they’re an entire neurological disorder that can essentially halt your day and render you frustrated in your ability to complete even basic tasks.
For some, it’s an occasional annoyance; for others, it happens daily and complicates work, home, and quality of life. Knowing the different types of migraines and their symptoms can help you identify when something is not right and what measures you can take to ease your worries. Ultimately, we all want to be in control of health and wellness—don’t we?
So now is your chance to discover different migraines and their symptoms. This article will provide a breakdown of types of migraines and symptoms associated with them in a list-format that’s easy to follow with basic terminology for those who don’t necessarily suffer from migraines but want to learn more. By the end of this article, you’ll know more about migraines and what makes each type unique.
What Is a Migraine?
First, let’s get one thing straight. A migraine isn’t a regular headache. A migraine is an experience that involves the brain and the nervous system. The symptom overlap makes people feel like there’s more at play than mere pain; where headaches signal nociceptive pain in the head and cranial regions, migraines signal gastrointestinal illness, vertigo, visual disturbances, etc. They can last for hours to days and, for some people, happen weekly, if not more.
Migraines are anti-social. Just because someone else has the same symptoms you have during your migraine doesn’t mean they exist on a similar level. Where some people go about their day with low-grade pain, others are bedridden and incapacitated. What’s important are the specifics of the symptoms and the understanding that multiple types of migraines exist. The great part is that if you know what type of migraine you’re having, treatment may be more accessible, if not preventative. So what kinds of migraines exist? Let’s break them down, one by one.
Migraine with Aura
The most common type of migraine is known as a migraine with aura. But what exactly is an aura? An aura is a form of pre-symptomatic awareness to the rest of the body that pain is about to occur. In other words, it’s the brain’s way of letting you know—literally giving you a sign—that pain is on the way, and you’d best prepare for it. Auras usually occur ten minutes to one hour before the subsequent headache, and they can present themselves in various forms.
For example, there are many reports of bright lights or lines flashing or appearing in zigzags, blind spots in vision, as if there is a peephole through which one gazes and part of one’s peripheral vision is blacked out—albeit for a short time. Some people claim they see sparkles or wavy images. There are also sensory elements. People may feel tingling or numbness in their hands, fingers, extremities and their face and within their arms. People may have slurred speech or feel somewhat confused—as if their mind has a foggy overlay. Therefore, these symptoms can be disturbing—especially if one is not sure of what’s going on.
Yet once the aura disappears, the migraine begins. It often starts on one side of the head—or the other—but it can radiate throughout the skull. The headache is typically a throbbing or pounding sensation—as if someone is using a drumstick and banging into one’s brain from the inside out. Nausea can occur and some people vomit while others become hyper-sensitive to light and sound. For someone turned in to a migraine’s inclinations, even a dark room can be too bright and too loud. For those suffering from extreme painful headaches, anxiety sets in as there’s nothing to do but lie down in a dark, quiet room and wait for the inevitable pain to go away.
Auras are not common among people who get migraines—not everyone gets them; only 25% of people who suffer from migraines also experience auras—but should one experience an aura, it may be a good sign that a migraine is coming on. Therefore, it’s important to keep track of when and how often such occurrences happen because an aura could be that red flag to watch out for to avoid painful triggers before the inevitable onset occurs.
Migraine Without Aura
The most common type of migraine is called migraine without aura. It does not possess functionality like flashing lights or tingling. Instead, you get a headache, and it seems to come out of nowhere. If you’ve been nursing some discomfort, having a sudden onset of intense pain to the point where you want to hide from the world, this may be your complication.
The pain presents with a headache on one side or the other (or nondescript when fighting it). However, it is characterized by that same throbbing, distracting pain that causes you to be unable to focus on anything else. You may feel nauseous and vomit. Other complications include an overstimulated sense of environment—sight as bright lights, sound as blaring noises, or most distracting, scent as perfume or food cooking. Have you walked into a room and detected a smell that usually doesn’t bother you but suddenly pervades your senses? That’s a strong headache trigger.
Additionally, many people report feeling fatigued, agitated, or “not like themselves” in the hours/days preceding the complication. While that doesn’t mean an aura appears for you beforehand, it signals that your body is preparing itself for drama. A migraine headache can last from hours up to three days, with varying intensities—one day a mild throb, the next, debilitating.
Migraines without Aura occur seemingly out of nowhere. One moment, you’re at work, with friends, or on errands, and the next—bam—you have the pain. This is one of the most irritating migraines types, although, with symptom recognition, you may be able to distract yourself in another locale for hydration or rest sooner rather than later.
Vestibular Migraine
Ever find yourself just dizzy for seemingly no reason? If that dizziness comes with a headache, then you might have a vestibular migraine. As the name suggests, vestibular migraines affect your sense of balance and feeling of stability as the world seems to spin or tilt around you. It’s as if you’ve gotten on the worst boat at the pier, and you’re standing still.
Vestibular migraines are not easy to diagnose as people often mistake them for vertigo or ear issues. You may not only feel dizzy, but also disoriented as if you’re going to fall over at any given second. People describe it as being “drunk,” but having nothing to drink. Also, people may find it challenges to focus their eyes as everything seems to move.
The headache is not as strong as other migraines, but it exists and appears to pulse or ache on one side of the head at times. Nausea is common and sensitivity to motion increases, whether you’re in a car or turn your head too fast. Bright lights and loud noises, like every other migraine, make this one worse as well.
What makes vestibular migraines distinct is their interaction with one’s balance. Imagine trying to walk across a room and feeling like the floor isn’t quite beneath you, it’s uncomfortable and honestly terrifying. They can happen for minutes at a time or days on end, creating scenarios in which someone cannot drive or operate comfortably at a computer.
Chronic Migraine
For some, migraines are not an aberrant occurrence that interrupts life but instead, a life-changing occurrence far too often. If someone experiences headaches on 15 or more days a month—with 8 or more days comprising migraines—this person has chronic migraines. This is not a one-time episode (or attack), but instead, a recurring nature that can beat people down over and over again.
Chronic migraines can involve parts of other elements discussed, too; auras, nausea, photophobia or phonophobia. Some days it may feel like a chronic migraine is just a headache and other days, out of nowhere, it can turn into a completely debilitating experience. Chronic migraines can frustrate people, wear them down, make them cranky, unable to focus—even when it’s just a potential build-up of what could become a full-blown chronic manifestation. It feels like their brains are always on high alert for something to come.
Chronic migraines can feel all-consuming. From work to family time to social gatherings to enjoying a beautiful sunny day—have you ever found yourself unable to participate because you just couldn’t deal with the pain? Those with chronic migraines have to face this possibility far too often. This type of migraine is the hardest to manage because it’s not one single incidence making life miserable, it’s the acknowledgment of the pattern that makes it harder to cope, yet, acknowledging the truth helps people find relief and a sense of community.
Hemiplegic Migraine
This migraine is one of the less common episodes and slightly more intense. Hemiplegic comes from the term that means “weakness on one side of the body.” This means that it accompanies a headache, but one side of the arm or one side of the leg—or, even dynamically, one side of the face—may become weak or paralyzed. It comes across as something you’d associate with a stroke; therefore, it’s a bit scary and confusing.
The pre-headache symptoms are felt before the migraine ever occurs, warning you of what’s about to happen. You essentially feel that your hand is heavy because one side is weak and difficult to lift or move; even for some. Others experience aura symptoms, such as blind spots or flashing lights, in addition to weaknesses which can further make it difficult to speak or get words out, understand what someone else is saying, or make sense of what’s going on. This lasts anywhere from minutes to hours and usually dissipates when the migraine itself stops.
The headache feels like a regular migraine, a throbbing pain likely on one side accompanied by nausea and sensitivity to light and sound. However, because of the intensity of the symptoms, hemiplegic migraines require a little more care. If this happens to you for the first time, know that it can be alarming when someone has weakness, especially if it’s never been explained to you before; however, in knowing it before, you can remain calm enough to deal with this when it arises.
Menstrual Migraine
Migrating with a woman’s cycle. For some women, migraines come right on that monthly trigger and are called menstrual migraines. They have to do with the hormonal fluctuation in a woman’s body. If you notice your headaches or migraines occur right before, during, or after your menstrual cycle, this is what might be happening.
Menstrual migraines feel like migraines without aura. They come on with the pounding headache pain, respective likely to one side of your head, with respective nausea, vomiting, or sensitivity to sound and light. However, the differential diagnosis relays timing-it happens when the estrogen levels drop and are associated with the menstrual cycle. It’s as if the hormones create a domino effect that leads to an inflammatory response in the brain.
Many women find this menstrual migraine particularly annoying because they can be predictable. Not only do women have to suffer through cramping and other uncomfortable symptoms, but now they can expect a debilitating migraine. It can exacerbate that time of the month and for those who always get it, even more challenging to deal with every time it comes around. Some women even keep calendars to chart when they’re expected to prepare-resting more or avoiding things that may exacerbate their symptoms like noise or blue screens.
Silent Migraine
What if you have all the symptoms of a migraine but no headache? That’s called a silent migraine or an acephalgic migraine. It sounds wild but it’s possible to have migraine symptoms without having a headache.
However, when people think of migraines, they think of a headache, but that’s not the case for all. With a silent migraine, for example, you will have an aura—the flashing lights or zigzag lines or tingling sensations we discussed earlier. You may also feel nauseated, dizzy, or oversensitive to light and sound. Some people get fatigued or confused or just feel “off.” It’s a mild to moderate intensity, like the headache counterpart without the headache, which is easy to let symptoms fall by the wayside—or even be confused for something else, as there’s no pain accompanying it.
Silent migraines can be annoying with like tricks of the mind. What are those strange moving designs in your eyesight if your head doesn’t hurt? Silent migraines happen one time and that’s it, or they happen on a regular basis; however, they’re more prevalent in those who get migraines with headaches. That does NOT mean silent migraines, themselves, cannot occur in anyone. However, being aware of the signs can help eliminate any triggers or provide coping mechanisms—even when there’s little pain.
Common Symptoms Across Migraine Types
Although each migraine type varies, they share certain symptoms at their core. The most obvious symptom is the headache itself—generally a throbbing or pulsating pain that has even unilateral presentation; that is, it’s worse on one side of your head (it’s not a tension-type headache that’s more consistent with a band around your forehead). Instead, migraine pain is so bad that it prevents you from doing what you love.
Nausea is another frequent symptom. The urge to vomit can make it even difficult to eat or sit up. Some people vomit with their migraines, which makes them even more annoying and exhausting. Light and sound sensitivity are prevalent. That means bright lights, loud music, ringing phones, and more, can be overwhelming. Strong smells—from perfume to cooking—can induce or worsen symptoms.
A general sense of malaise or brain fog is also reported before, during, and after the migraines. It’s as if the brain is operating on low battery. People find themselves irritated, anxious, or just not themselves. Symptoms can last long after the head pain subsides, making people feel exhausted for hours—and days—afterwards.
What Can You Do About Migraines?
While it’s a great way to start assessing your symptoms by knowing which migraine you’ve gotten, what can you do when they happen? First, respect your body. If you get early warning signs like an aura or feeling “off,” attempt to remove yourself from stimulating situations and rest in a quiet, dark space. Sometimes, dehydration can contribute to migraines, so drinking water and easing on something light to eat could help. For some, avoiding triggers in the first place—like bright lights, loud sounds, or specific foods—can help.
For some, over-the-counter pain relievers can take the edge off, but for others, it does not work. If migraines become a recurring phenomenon, frequent visits to the doctor can help get to the root of the problem and see what solutions are best for relief. Have you ever thought about tracking your migraines to see if there’s a potential trigger? Simply tracking when they occur and what you were doing at the time may reveal some patterns.
With menstrual migraines, certain women find that prior or during onset stress relief or sufficient sleep helps. With chronic migraines, women find that lifestyle changes—consistent sleep, exercise and decreased caffeine—works in their favor. With vestibular migraines or hemiplegic migraines, women might have to be more careful if dizziness and/or weakness is too overwhelming.
It’s all about trusting the body. Some women experience migraines only to have them pass, but for those who are more aware of their symptoms and can distinguish an aura, they have a better chance of prevention.
Conclusion
Migraines are more than headaches. Migraines with aura, vestibular migraines, even silent migraines, each classification poses its set of vulnerabilities. Yet understanding the potential symptoms—from throbbing pain to sensitivity, nausea to sensitivity of sound—allows someone to connect the dots to at least create symptom management and maybe relief.
While existing with migraine may be a challenge, the fact that one can identify a type of migraine can make things easier. For example, do symptoms occur around the same time each month? Keeping a log of various symptoms across time may reveal some common patterns. Are there episodes of light-headedness prior to the pain onset? These patterns help health care clinicians and individuals understand what course of action needs to be taken before symptoms become worse—resting? Avoiding triggers?
Therefore, the next time you feel a migraine coming on, take a second to see what your body is telling you. Am I experiencing a menstrual migraine? Does this migraine last too long for it to become a chronic migraine? Regardless, you are not alone; assessing what you’re feeling can help validate finding proper treatments. Keep listening to your body, and reach out if you need help.