Headache is a common disorder encountered by a neurologist and a pain physician in day-to-day practice. As the saying goes “all headache disorders aren’t migraine”, however, it isn’t overzealous to extrapolate that “migraine in fact is the most common cause of headache disorder for which a patient seeks physician assistance.”

How do I know if I am suffering from Migraine?

The diagnosis of Migraine headaches is made by experienced physicians depending upon the patient’s history and duration of symptoms. Any headache attack which is one-sided, pulsating in nature (like pulsations of the heart), severe enough to interfere with activities of daily living and associated with a sense of vomiting or actual vomiting, headache attacks associated with fear of light and sounds should raise the suspicion of Migraine disorder.

What is the cause of these Migraine headaches?

Though Migraine as a disease entity has been known to mankind for since long, however still it falls under the few categories of diseases in the medical sciences the exact cause of which is still not unknown. These headache attacks are believed to be associated with neuro-vascular disturbances in the brain secondary to the release of a few neurotransmitters in the central nervous system.

When to seek physician assistance?

As mentioned above, Migraine attacks are severe enough to interfere with the activities of daily living of the sufferers. So any suspicion of headache attacks severe enough to hamper daily activities should be brought to qualified physician assistance.

Is there any cure for it?

Yes, medical science now has numerous options to abort the attacks of migraine as well as prevent future attacks. These options include the use of medications aimed at reducing the frequency, duration, and severity of attacks. In a few subsets of patients in whom we are unable to control headache attacks with medications alone, we may need some facial nerves neuromodulation (Occipital nerve/ SPG blocks/ Trigeminal Ganglion blocks, etc)/ Botox injections, etc. as interventional pain management techniques. All these interventions are done with X-ray or Ultrasound guidance for precise localization of the target nerves.