If you regularly feel pressure or pain in your head, it may be difficult to recognise whether you have a headache or migraine. It is important to distinguish migraine from headache and vice versa. The word migraine is often mistakenly used as a synonym for headache. Headache is not always migraine, far from it. In fact, unlike most other forms of headache, migraine causes a very intense pain. How can you recognise the difference between common headaches and migraines?

What is a headache?

Headache is unpleasant pain in your head that can cause pressure and pain. Some specific areas where headaches can occur are the forehead, your temple and the back of the neck. Headaches can last from 30 minutes to a week. Tension headaches are the most common and are often caused by stress, muscle tension and anxiety. Read here further about the different types of headaches.

What is migraine?

Migraine is a brain disease in which a dysregulation of the brain stem causes a person to have a migraine attack. This attack is very intense and is often accompanied by other symptoms besides headaches. These symptoms may include:

Nausea;
Pain behind an eye or ear;
Pain in sleep;
Seeing spots or flashing lights;
Sensitivity to light and/or sound;
Temporary loss of vision;
Braken.

Migraines generally affect only one side of the head, although both sides are also possible. Other differences are how bad the pain is: a migraine headache involves intense pain that can be throbbing and make daily tasks very difficult. Some people have only one or two migraine attacks a year. Others get several attacks a month or even a week.

Cause migraine

The cause for the onset of an attack is largely unknown. Migraine patients are hypersensitive to certain stimuli. It is known that by exceeding the excitation threshold, certain parts of the brain are overexcited. This causes a temporary dysregulation of these parts of the brain. Eventually, this dysregulation also affects the blood vessels and nerves in the meninges. These membranes are located just below the skull. Stimulation of the blood vessels and nerves in them leads to headaches and dysregulation of the cerebral cortex. This hypersensitivity can be hereditary. In addition, sensitivity to stimuli can temporarily change due to certain circumstances. Examples include (extreme) fatigue, menstruation, atmospheric changes and possibly relaxation after stress.

Migraine triggers

People who suffer from migraines report various factors related to them. These are called migraine triggers and may include:

Stress;
Extreme fatigue;
Emotional anxiety;
Contraceptives;
Alcohol;
Hormonal changes;
Menopause

Physiotherapy for complaints

We will work with you to find out where the complaints lie and conduct an examination.

For this, we discuss the complaints, but we will also do examinations. Then we will draw up a treatment plan together. This plan may include information and advice, as well as exercising and moving together. In addition, treatment may focus on addressing muscle tension, optimising the mobility of the weights in your neck and alleviating pain.

For this, we use the following forms of therapy, depending on the cause of the complaints: