The 9 types of migraines and their symptoms

One of the most common health problems in the general population is headaches, technically known as "headaches." The two most common and well-known types of headache are tension headache and migraine, also called migraine.

Migraines are divided into several types based on its most representative symptoms and its main characteristics.

• Related article: "The 13 types of headache (and their symptoms and causes)"

What is migraine?

Migraine or migraine it is the third most frequent disorder worldwide after tooth decay and tension headache. It often involves some degree of personal involvement and even incapacitation, if the intensity and frequency are high.

Along with tension or trigeminal autonomic headaches, migraines form the group of primary headaches. This name indicates that they are not a consequence of other diseases or disorders but that the headache itself constitutes the center of the problem.

Migraine is characterized by the presence of moderate or severe headaches that are usually throbbing,

affect one side of the head and last between 2 hours and 3 days. The pain may be accompanied by other symptoms such as nausea and vomiting or sensitivity to light (photophobia) and sound (phonophobia).

In approximately 15-30% of migraine cases this is accompanied by what we call "aura", a set of neurological symptoms that precede, accompany or follow the headache. These include impaired vision, numbness in one of the hands, general fatigue (asthenia), neck stiffness and pain, and increased or decreased level of activity.

However, to understand the characteristics of the disorder in more detail, it is necessary to look at the different types of migraine.

Types of migraine and their symptoms

Migraines can be classified into different types, both when we refer to specific episodes and chronic disorders. These categories depend on variables such as the origin, symptoms and the presence or absence of aura.

1. Migraine without aura

Migraine without aura it is the most common type of migraine. This is the name given to the unilateral and throbbing headaches that are accompanied by symptoms such as nausea and intolerance to light and sound, but not the migraine aura.

Generally the pain is localized in the forehead and temples. In children it is more common for it to be bilateral, while unilateral pain is characteristic of adolescents and adults.

To diagnose this subtype of migraine it is required that five episodes have occurred; if there have been fewer, the disorder is classified as "probable migraine without aura". If the frequency is very high, we will speak of chronic migraine.

2. With typical aura and headache

In migraines with aura, there are transient motor, verbal, sensory symptoms, such as tingling and numbness, or visual, such as scintillating scotoma. in which a region of the visual field is illuminated, altering vision. The visual aura is the most common type.

In these cases the aura occurs at the same time as the headache or less than 1 hour before. It is common for the same person to combine migraines with and without aura, as well as migraines with and without headache.

3. With typical aura without headache

This disorder is diagnosed when there are recurrent episodes of aura, usually visual, without associated headache. Although migraine headaches can also occur, in this subtype the symptoms of the aura predominate over pain, which may be absent or non-migraine in nature.

4. With brainstem aura

Brain stem migraine have characteristic symptoms such as vertigo, lack of coordination (ataxia), transient hearing impairment (hearing loss), tinnitus or tinnitus, double vision (diplopia) and difficulty articulating words (dysarthria).

Brainstem symptoms usually occur in conjunction with those of the aura; This is why this type of migraine is classified within migraines with aura.

• Related article: "Brainstem: functions and structures"

5. Familial hemiplegic

The most identifying symptom of hemiplegic migraine is motor weakness, which is part of the aura in this type of migraine and sometimes lasts for weeks. There are also other typical symptoms of the aura, especially visual and sensory.

Familial hemiplegic migraine is diagnosed when one or more first-degree relatives have also suffered episodes of this type of migraine. It is frequent that they appear brainstem symptoms, confusion, fever, and decreased level of consciousness.

In turn, familial hemiplegic migraine is divided into three subtypes based on the genes that cause the disorder.

6. Sporadic hemiplegic

Cases of sporadic hemiplegic migraine present the same symptoms as those of the family member but the disorder has not occurred in close relatives, so it is not possible to confirm its genetic origin.

7. Retinal

In retinal migraine episodes the vision of one of the eyes is altered during the aura. Phenomena such as the perception of lights (photopsia), loss of vision in a part of the visual field (scotoma) or transient blindness (amaurosis) can occur. Sometimes there is no headache.

8. Chronic migraine

Chronic or recurrent migraine is diagnosed in cases where the migraine-like headache persists for more than three months and appears on half the days of each month.

Any type of migraine disorder will be classified as chronic if these criteria for duration and frequency, being able to vary the episodes between the different types of migraine that we have described. Other headaches, particularly tension headaches, can also occur.

9. Probable migraine

The category "probable migraine" is a mixed bag that includes episodes that do not meet diagnostic criteria of the above types or of other kinds of headache. These migraines can be diverse in nature and are further subdivided into migraines without probable aura and migraines with probable aura.