Migraines can be caused by different factors, including age, environment, diet, and other lifestyle choices.
According to the American Migraine Foundation, there are nine different types of migraines. They say pinpointing the cause of a migraine can be complicated, because there are so many types. But focusing on the location of the pain and other symptoms you are experiencing can help you and your doctor develop a more effective treatment plan and fewer painful days.
What are the types of migraines that people encounter? The American Migraine Foundation put them in these nine categories:
- Migraine with aura (complicated migraine)—Some people experience a migraine with aura, a series of sensory changes like seeing black dots. Aura sets in shortly before or during a migraine, and can last 10 to 30 minutes.
- Migraine without aura (common migraine)—A common migraine causes pulsing or throbbing pain on one side of the head with light and sound sensitivity. Physical activity worsens the symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are also classic symptoms.
- Migraine without head pain—This type of migraine causes dizziness, visual disturbances, and nausea, but no head pain. Those who get them are likely to experience other types of migraine.
- Hemiplegic migraine—This migraine causes weakness on one side of the body, often with visual aura symptoms and a “pins and needles” sensation, or loss of sensation. It can last for as little as a few hours to several days. Hemiplegic migraine doesn’t always include the severe head pain.
- Retinal migraine—A retinal migraine can cause you to temporarily lose vision in one eye. Most common in women during their childbearing years, the blindness can last anywhere from a minute to months, but is usually fully reversible.
- Chronic migraine—Sufferers often have a headache for more than 15 days a month. Many of the days often feel like typical migraine, but there may be considerable variability in the severity of the symptoms and head pain on any given day.
- Ice pick headaches—People who get ice pick headaches say they feel like they’re getting stabbed in the head with an ice pick. They often come on suddenly, delivering an intense, sharp pain.
- Cluster headaches—With cluster headaches, you’ll feel an almost burning pain around and above your eyes, at your temples, and even moving toward the back of your head. Symptoms include red or swollen eyes or a runny nose.
- Cervicogenic headache—For people who experience a cervicogenic headache, the pain usually comes from the neck or from a lesion on the spine, which is often confused with pain in the back of your head.
If the migraines you are having sound like one or more of these descriptions, it’s important to talk to your doctor and be honest about the severity and frequency of them. This way, you have a better chance at finding a treatment plan that works for you.