5 Common Migraine Myths, Debunked

Anyone who has had a migraine knows that these aren’t normal headaches. For most, they’re all-encompassing events that can make your day go sideways very quickly.

In fact, migraines, which affect more than 1 billion people worldwide, have been called one of the 10 most disabling illnesses by the World Health Organization.

This fact, and others, aren’t widely understood, which is why Dr. Paul Gill and our team at Gill Neuroscience want to debunk a few myths that we’ve encountered surrounding migraines.

Myth: Migraines aren’t common

We’ve already established that migraines affect a large number of people around the world, but we want to flesh out these numbers a little bit. 

Here in the United States, migraines affect about 37 million people, which includes adults and kids. And about 3% of episodic migraine sufferers transition to chronic migraine, which includes 15 migraine headache days per month for at least three months.

Myth: Migraines affect both men and women equally

While migraines do affect men, women, and children, females draw the short end of the stick and outpace males by 3 to 1. In fact, migraines affect about 30% of women over the course of their lives.

Myth: Migraines are just headaches

As we mentioned, migraines are complex conditions that can come with a wide range of symptoms. Yes, there's throbbing pain that develops on one side of your head, but there are other neurological issues that can accompany these headaches, including:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Visual disturbances
• Sensitivity to light and sound
• Blurred vision
• Fatigue

Worse still, migraines can include phases before and after the headache. Before the headache, you can experience prodrome and aura, which come with mood changes, cravings, visual disturbances, and other neurological symptoms. 

And after a migraine, some people experience a sort of hangover called a postdrome that can leave you exhausted and unable to focus.

Myth: Migraines come out of nowhere

There’s some truth to migraines coming out of nowhere, and they do for some people, but many migraines are triggered by any number of things, such as:

• Food additives
• Changes in weather
• Chocolate
• Stress
• Poor sleep

This list is far from complete, largely because no two people follow the same migraine journey, and triggers can be unique to a person’s lifestyle.

Myth: Migraines can’t be treated

While there’s no cure for migraines, we want to emphasize that there are treatment options. For example, we just reviewed migraine triggers, and this is a great practice — identify and manage these triggers to prevent migraines in the first place.

There are also other treatments, including:

• Botox® to prevent migraines in chronic migraine sufferers
• Medications to take during a migraine to lessen symptoms and shorten duration
• Anti-seizure medications to prevent migraines
• Antidepressants
• Beta blockers
• Calcium channel blockers
• Biofeedback therapy
• Acupuncture

As you can see, you're not without treatment options for migraines, and we’re happy to help you figure out which ones would work best for you.

To get on the road to migraine relief, start by calling our office in Houston, Texas, at 832-912-7777, or you can use our online form to request an appointment.