How long do migraine last?

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How long do migraine last?

Tension headaches and migraines are the most common forms of headaches. To treat them, it may be essential to rely on specialized centers, as explained by the Headache Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Palazzo Della Salute-Wellness Clinic specialist. In this article, we read about How long do migraine last?

Each of us has suffered, suffers, or will suffer from headaches in our lives. This symptom is prevalent, especially in the female population. The pain that is felt can affect part or all of the skull and involve the neck. Episodic or chronic headache in its various most common forms, i.e., tension headache and migraine, can have a heavy impact on the quality of life of those who suffer from it, up to affecting the work sphere but also the social and personal one. 

Not surprisingly, headache has recently recognized as a disabling social disease. But are there any effective treatments? How to recognize the different types of headaches? We asked Dr. Pietro Bassi, a neurologist at the Headache Diagnosis and Treatment Center and the Vertigo Diagnosis and Treatment Center at Palazzo Della Salute-Wellness Clinic.

Primary and secondary headaches

Headaches fall into two broad categories: 

  • primary, or forms that do not have an organic cause, and which include tension headache, migraine long do migraine last, and the much more feared and rare cluster headache
  • The secondary is all those forms for which there is a headache for organic causes, such as tumor masses, aneurysms, abscesses, meningitis, encephalitis, glaucoma, otitis, sinusitis, header cervical trauma.

Tension headache and migraine

There are different chronic headaches, but the best known and most frequent are tension headaches and migraines

The tension headache

“Tension headache is generally characterized by dull and severe pain that can last several hours or even days – explains Dr. Bassi -. This pain is not well localized but usually affects the whole head and may be accompanied by nausea

Tension headache is undoubtedly the most frequent and is mainly due to the emotional tension linked mainly to stress; the latter causes tension in the neck muscles (in particular the trapezius muscle) long do migraine last, which can cause pain which, from the nape of the neck, can reach the forehead up to the eyes. 

Women suffer more than men, in a ratio of 3 to 1″.

Migraine 

Migraines, on the other hand, as the name implies, mainly affects half of the skull and causes throbbing pain of varying intensity and which can last for several days. 

Familiarity essential, especially in migraines: migraine sufferers often have relatives, especially women, who affected.

Migraines may initially manifest with neurological symptoms that precede the headache, including: 

  • the visual symptom with partial loss of vision;
  • the appearance of the so-called scintillating scotomas, or flashes, lasting a few minutes;
  • more rarely tingling or loss of strength in a part of the body.

There are also other related symptoms, such as phonophobia and photophobia (annoyance due to intense sound and light, respectively), almost always accompanied by nausea and more rarely by vomiting. In this case, the patient tends to prefer a quiet and dark environment. 

Compared to tension headache, the cause of migraine better known. There is a change in the brain neurotransmitters, for which the crisis is triggered by the cascade of serotonin long do migraine last, causing the first vasoconstriction with symptoms mainly at the visual level (ophthalmic aura) and then vasodilation with the onset of the actual headache “.

The diagnosis

“The symptom of headache is very generic – continues the specialist -: the diagnosis can be made clinically, and it is essential to carry out a very accurate anamnestic collection, that is: 

  • ask the patient about the type and frequency of the headache;
  • any other illnesses you may have;
  • his lifestyle habits;
  • the sleep-wake rhythm;
  • nutrition, as it has shown that some foods (chocolate, aged cheese. Dried fruit, sausages, red wine) can sometimes trigger headaches in predisposed subjects. 

Once a complete clinical picture of the patient has made, a neurological physical examination carry out; in any case, to exclude significant intracranial pathologies, it advisable to resort to more accurate diagnostic tests such as magnetic resonance “. 

The cure for tension headache

“The tension headache very frequently becomes chronic , that is persistent over time and not episodic, and it is necessary to resort to a therapy composed mostly of tranquilizers or antidepressants , in low doses , which allow the person to respond to stress in a better way – precise -. It important that the therapy follow to the letter. And for as long as necessary indicated by the specialist”.

In the case of episodic tension headache, the therapy adopted can be symptomatic, with the intake of drugs (anti-inflammatory, painkillers) at the time of the manifestation of symptoms.

The cure for migraines

In migraines, triptans are used when the crises are less than 3-4 times a month

If the crises were more than 4-5 per month, we usually switch to prophylactic drugs: there are different types, but the most used and effective are beta-blockers

How to prevent them

In this case, it is difficult to talk about natural prevention – concludes Dr. Bassi -: usually long do migraine last, we try to invite the patient to keep a headache diary in which to report: 

  •  the frequency of headaches
  •  duration
  •  the intensity
  •  the drug she took to get it through.

 In this way, it is possible to frame the patient better to know his habits. To avoid as much as possible the factors that could favor. The onset of headaches such as stress, some drugs, and some foods “.

It is essential, especially in patients with chronic headaches, to rely on specialists and experts centers, such as the Palace of Health-Wellness Clinic Center of Diagnosis and Treatment of Headache, for early diagnosis and specific and targeted treatments and therapies do not take do-it from you that they could make the situation worse rather than improve it.

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