Medically reviewed by Rashmi B. Halker Singh, M.D., FAHS, FAAN
39 million people in the U.S. have migraine disease – and it’s 3x more common in women than men.
Most people with the disease get 2-4 migraine attacks/month on average.
Types of migraine
Migraine without aura
This is sometimes called common migraine because about 3 in 4 people with migraine experience this type.
Some symptoms may include:
Throbbing pain on one or both sides of the head
Moderate to severe head pain that gets worse with normal physical activity
Nausea and/or vomiting
Sensitivity to light, sound and smell
Migraine with aura
About a quarter of people with migraine get a warning sign, called an aura, that an attack is coming. This can occur 5-60 minutes before a migraine attack.
Symptoms include:
Seeing flashing lights, wavy lines, bright dots or zigzags
Trouble seeing
Tingling or “pins and needles” feeling
Trouble speaking clearly
Weakness
Head pain
Migraine without head pain
Also known as a silent migraine, this is migraine with aura but without head pain. It affects about 4% of people with migraine overall, but may become more common for people with migraine as they approach midlife.
About 4 of 10 people who have migraine with aura will have aura without head pain later in life.
Symptoms include:
Seeing flashing lights, wavy lines, bright dots or zigzags
Trouble seeing
Tingling or “pins and needles” feeling
Trouble speaking clearly
Weakness
Vestibular migraine
Vestibular migraine involves vertigo (dizziness) in addition to head pain. It’s most common in people with a history of motion sickness and migraines.
Symptoms include:
Dizziness that lasts from minutes to hours (or even days)
Balance problems
Throbbing head pain, usually on one side of the head
Nausea and/or vomiting
Sensitivity to light, sound and smell
Retinal migraine
Retinal migraine causes visual disturbances in one eye. It is rare and typically affects women of childbearing age .
Symptoms include:
Seeing twinkling or flashing lights in one eye
Decreased or lost vision in one eye
Head pain that may be present from the onset or start up to an hour later
Chronic migraine
A person has chronic migraine if they have headache pain for 15+ days (with migraine symptoms for at least 8 of them), 3 months in a row. If you have migraine attacks fewer than 15 days a month, it’s called episodic migraine.
Symptoms may include:
Frequent moderate or severe headache attacks
Pain on one side of the head or both
Throbbing, pulsing or pounding head pain
Nausea and or vomiting
Sensitivity to light, sound and smell
Menstrual migraine
This migraine is linked to hormone changes during the menstrual cycle. Attacks usually hit just before or when your period starts, and are often worse and last longer than at other times during your cycle.
Symptoms may include:
Throbbing head pain, often on one side of your head
Nausea and/or vomiting
Sensitivity to light, sound and smell
Chills and sweating
Sore or sensitive scalp
Hemiplegic migraine
This rare migraine type involves weakness on one side of the body, sometimes with an aura and not always with head pain. Because of these symptoms, this type of migraine attack is sometimes mistaken for a stroke and should be checked by a healthcare provider (HCP).
Symptoms include:
Weakness on one side of the body
Head pain
Vision changes
Numbness
Tingling
Trouble speaking
Coordination issues
Nausea and/or vomiting
Sensitivity to sound and light
Concerned about migraine? Talk to your HCP.
This educational resource was created with support from Pfizer.