What is migraine?
You may be wondering, what is migraine? So, let’s try to explain it and the symptoms associated with it a bit more…
Migraine is a complex long-term health condition. Different people can get different symptoms. When you have a migraine attack it can impact your daily life.1
Common symptoms may include:
- A moderate to severe headache, causing intense throbbing pain, usually on one side of the head1,2
- Nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light, sound, or strong smells1
- Attacks with or without aura (flashes of light, blind spots, or tingling in the hands or face, which may come on before or during migraine)2
There are two major types of migraine: without aura, and with aura.3
- Migraine without aura – a moderate-to-severe, throbbing headache, typically on one side of the head (and normally towards the front), that typically lasts for at least a few hours, and possibly up to three days.3 The headache is made worse by normal activity such as walking or climbing stairs.3 A person with a migraine attack may feel nauseous and may be extremely sensitive to light and sound.3
- Migraine with aura – a headache together with a series of vision disturbances such as flashes of light, zig-zag patterns, or blind spots.3 Alternatively, the headache may be accompanied by feeling pins and needles, tingling, or numbness in a hand, an arm or the face. Less commonly, aura is associated with difficulty in speaking.3 Aura symptoms can last from 5 minutes to an hour, and usually start before the headache.3 Around 20% of migraine sufferers experience aura symptoms.4
In the hours (or even days) before and after a migraine attack, a person may experience symptoms such as tiredness, difficulty concentrating, or neck stiffness.3
People with migraine are split into two types – ‘episodic migraine’ and ‘chronic migraine’ – depending on how many headache days they have a month.5
People with ‘episodic migraine’5
This describes people who have migraines on fewer than 15 days per month.
People with ‘chronic migraine’5
This describes people who have headaches on at least 15 days a month (including 8 days of migraines), with symptoms lasting for at least 3 months.
Discover how chronic migraine has shaped the lives of two individuals—watch their stories here.
Medication Overuse Headache (MOH)6
MOH is a secondary condition that can occur from using lots of acute medicines for at least 3 months. With this high use, sometimes the medicines themselves can cause more headaches. Your healthcare professional can discuss this with you.
References
- The Migraine Trust. What is Migraine? Available at https://migrainetrust.org/understand-migraine/what-is-migraine/ [Last accessed July 2026]
- Mayo Clinic. Migraine – symptoms and causes. Available at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/migraine-headache/symptoms-causes/syc-20360201 [Last accessed July 2026]
- Headache Classification Committee of the International Headache Society (IHS). The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition. Cephalalgia. 2018;38(1):1–211
- Weatherall MW. The diagnosis and treatment of chronic migraine. Ther Adv Chronic Dis. 2015;6(3):115–123.
- Lipton RB, Silberstein SD. Episodic and chronic migraine headache: breaking down barriers to optimal treatment and prevention. Headache. 2015;55(Suppl 2):103-122; quiz 123-126.
- The Migraine Trust. Medication overuse headache. Available at https://migrainetrust.org/understand-migraine/types-of-migraine/medication-overuse-headache/ [Last accessed July 2026]
