Your friend, your aunt, your patient in your primary care office, medication commercials with celebrities - everyone seems to be talking about migraine. But is it a headache or is it a migraine? How do you know the difference?
As a new grad, it’s not unusual to feel like you have been thrown into the deep end when patients present with a migraine or a headache. It’s not a super black and white topic; there are not a lot of objective findings or tests that you can order to get evidence. On top of that, patients sometimes have a hard time describing their symptoms, adding to the challenge.
This week, we’ll talk about what makes a migraine different from a headache, and how to approach your patient who just knows that their head hurts and they want relief.
✅ Differentiating headaches and migraines
✅ Migraine red flags
✅ Other diagnoses that can be mistaken for migraine
✅ A word about auras
✅ The importance of a headache diary for you and your patient
When you have a good handle on the red flags, and what makes a migraine different from a regular headache, managing migraines will get easier for both you and your patient. Check out the links below to learn more about triggers, criteria for auras, and a handy headache diary for your patient (and you).
(FYI: to slow down the audio speed, hit the gear symbol in the bottom right corner and change it to .75x or .5x. Closed captions are also located at the bottom R corner of the video.)
Aura criteria:
Link to food triggers: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/9648-headaches-and-food
Link to headache diary: https://headaches.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/HEADACHE-DIARY.pdf
Link to migraine triggers: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/migraine-headache/symptoms-causes/syc-20360201
Sign up for the email list and get our favorite evidence-based, time-saving references & apps to make clinic life easier.
Plus, get these posts and episodes sent straight to your inbox every week so you don't miss a new topic!
50% Complete
You'll also get weekly videos sent to your inbox every week with patient stories, helpful insights and bonus content I just don't share anywhere else!