What is Migraine?
Migraines are a recurring type of headache. They cause moderate to severe pain that is throbbing or pulsing. The pain is often on one side of your head. You may also have other symptoms, such as nausea and weakness. You may be sensitive to light and sound.
More than 39 million American sufferers, 28 million are women. Women experience migraine differently than men. The diagnosis and migraine headache treatment differs in Men and Women.
For Men
Diagnosis
Many migraine patients report a negative influence of migraine on their ability to pursue studies and on their finances. In men, low individual income seems to be associated with an increased risk of frequent or chronic headache.
Men experience less headache-related disability and are more likely to report being able to work/function normally during a migraine attack.
Comorbidities are prevalent in migraine patients. With nearly 90% of all individuals with chronic migraine having at least one comorbid condition and men have five comorbid conditions.
Treatment
Men are more likely to take over-the-counter medications or no medications at all. use of complementary and alternative medicine approaches, and in particular, acupuncture, homoeopathy, massage, and yoga can help. Interestingly, the use of complementary and alternative medicine is associated with decreased odds of moderate mental distress among women, but not men.
For Women
Diagnosis
Women are more likely to experience longer and more intense migraine attacks, report more migraine-associated symptoms – including nausea, visual aura, blurred vision, photophobia, and phonophobia – and have higher levels of migraine-related disability (e.g., requiring bed rest with attacks, reduced productivity at school or work). Comorbidities are prevalent in migraine patients.
On average, women with migraine have 11 comorbid conditions. It has been diagnosed that women with migraine are more likely to have anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, and restless legs syndrome.
As noted, hormonal fluctuations are a common trigger for many women with migraine. Menstrual migraine, which is defined as migraine attacks occurring in at least two of three menstrual cycles, extending from two days prior to the onset of menses through three days after onset. Menstrual migraine attacks can be more disabling, severe and longer-lasting, and more resistant to treatment than non-menstrual migraine.
Treatment
Women with migraine are more likely than men to take prescription medicine (acute and prophylaxis) or a combination of prescription and over-the-counter medications to treat their attacks
Use of complementary and alternative medicine approaches, and in particular, acupuncture, homoeopathy, massage, and yoga. Some migraine therapies are contraindicated for pregnancy, although others—including acetaminophen and sumatriptan—are shown to be relatively safe Healthy lifestyles, trigger avoidance, and biobehavioral treatments are also important management tools during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
A brief comparison between Men and Women’s Migraine
| FACTORS | MEN | WOMEN |
| Seeing a doc | 28.6% | 31.1% |
| Receiving diagnosis | 59.2% | 77.7% |
| Use of prescription for headache | 24.1% | 28.2% |
| Participants of Migraine | 25.6% | 74.4% |
Conclusion
Since sex and gender play a crucial role in the risk, it is important that clinicians take differences between women and men into account when diagnosing and for the migraine headache treatment. However, more research is needed to truly understand these differences and optimize care for both women and men.
Virtual Headache Specialist 