Migraine is a recurrent neurological condition characterised by moderate to severe headache — typically unilateral, pulsating, and aggravated by routine physical activity — accompanied by nausea, vomiting, or sensitivity to light and sound. Episodes typically last 4 to 72 hours. In some individuals, headache is preceded by aura: reversible neurological symptoms including visual disturbances, sensory changes, or speech difficulties.
Migraine is not a stress response or a tension headache. It involves changes in brain signalling, trigeminovascular activation, and cortical spreading depression — processes that are distinct, well-characterised neurobiologically, and that explain why migraine-specific treatments work differently from standard analgesics.
Chronic migraine is defined as 15 or more headache days per month, of which at least 8 meet migraine criteria. For patients at this frequency, the condition significantly disrupts work, relationships, and quality of life — and warrants specialist-level management.
