How do I know if my headaches are migraines?
A migraine is more than a bad headache. It is typically one-sided, throbbing, moderate to severe, and worsened by movement. It comes with nausea or sensitivity to light and sound, and lasts hours to days. Some people get warning auras of shimmering vision. Tension headaches, by contrast, band the whole head without the trimmings.
If headaches make you seek dark quiet rooms, that alone leans migraine, and it is underdiagnosed and undertreated everywhere.
Effective specific treatments exist beyond generic painkillers. The thunderclap kind, sudden worst-ever pain, or headache with fever, stiff neck, weakness or confusion, is an emergency, not a migraine question.
Source: NHS, migraine
See a doctor promptly if
- A headache that goes from nothing to maximum severity in under a minute, often described as the worst ever
- Headache with fever, neck stiffness, a rash that does not fade under pressure, or confusion
- Headache with new weakness, numbness, slurred speech, drooping face, or loss of vision
- Headache after a significant head injury, or any headache in someone on blood thinners after a knock to the head
- A brand new type of headache starting after age 50, or in pregnancy, or in someone with cancer or a weakened immune system
- Headache clearly worse on lying flat, coughing or straining, or waking you from sleep with vomiting
Try the symptom diary10 seconds a day, free, nothing to installThe first question in the room is when, how often and what came before it. A dated week answers all three.
When a second opinion is worth asking forWhat to bring, what it costs, and the situations where doctors expect to be asked
Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
If you are buying a thermometer
A basic digital stick thermometer is accurate and costs a few dollars. Forehead scanners are fine for quick checks on children; ear thermometers need good technique to read true.
Buying through this link supports the free library with a small commission. It never changes a pick.
A question about your own situation?
One question, answered personally by a doctor in writing within 24 hours.
People also ask
Health education, not medical advice.