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Migraine Headache FAQs

What are migraine headaches?

Migraines are disabling headaches that most likely stem from problems with the nerves and blood vessels in the head. Migraine headaches typically last from 4-72 hours. They may occur as often as several times a week to only once a year. People who have migraines are called migraineurs.

Migraine headaches affect about 15% of the population. Three times as many women as men have migraines. Over 80% of migraineurs have family members who have migraines. The following types of migraine headache have been identified:

  • Migraine without aura (common migraine): This type accounts for 80% of migraine headaches. There is no aura before a common migraine.

  • Migraine with aura (classic migraine): This type is usually preceded by an aura and is usually much worse than a common migraine. Most often, an aura is a visual disturbance (outlines of lights or jagged light images). 

  • Status migrainosus: This is the term used to describe a long-lasting migraine that does not go away by itself.



Next: How dangerous are migraine headaches? »

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Migraine Headache FAQs

BOTOX Injections »

BOTOX® Injections Overview

Botulinum toxin (BOTOX®) is a material that has been known for over a century and used for medical purposes for more than 50 years. Its initial uses were for strabismus (commonly known as a lazy eye), blepharospasm (inability to move the eye in certain ways), and cervical dystonia (wry neck). In 2002, it was approved for improving and relaxing frown lines in the area between the eyes on the forehead (the glabella) and has been used successfully in more than half a million patients since that time.
 
A common misconception is that BOTOX® actually paralyzes the muscles in the face. Although, with extreme amounts of BOTOX®, this can happen, most physicians strive to inject just the amount that allows the patient to have some limited activity but not so much that they have overactivity of the areas. Patients should know that BOTOX® is not used to keep them from expressing themselves but simply to keep them...

Read the BOTOX Injections article »



Read What Your Physician is Reading on eMedicine

Migraine Headache »

Although migraine is a term applied to certain headaches with a vascular quality, overwhelming evidence suggests that migraine is a dominantly inherited disorder characterized by varying degrees of recurrent vascular-quality headache, photophobia, sleep disruption, and depression. border=

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