How to Tell the Difference Between a Migraine and a Regular Headache

All migraines have a headache component but not all headaches are migraines. You've had the experience of bringing your fingertips to your temples to try and assuage the discomfort of a tension-type headache. These are the most common and the easiest to treat with over-the-counter medications you can find in an emergency kit. Other types of headaches are less common, including cluster headaches and hemicrania headaches.

Then there is the ever-dreaded migraine. These are primary headaches that don't just localize with intense throbbing on one side of your head, but also bring about a host of other symptoms, greatly impacting your ability to function. Though there are some similarities between headaches and migraines, they're drastically different. If you've experienced both, you know exactly what those differences are.

To put together this list of the differences between a migraine and a headache, 24/7 Tempo reviewed a couple of different sources, including WebMD and Medical News Today, which are two informative websites that offer detailed information on the triggers, symptoms, and treatment options for each of these headache disorders. (For further reading, check out 27 rare and mysterious medical conditions.)

With headaches, triggers are more general and not so specific. Usually, a headache is more tension-related, stress-related, or could have another cause like fatigue or lack of food. When it's a tension-type headache, the triggers could include jaw clenching, sleep apnea, and poor posture. If it's a cluster headache or hemicrania, physical exertion and alcohol could be triggers.

Migraines, on the other hand, have specific triggers. This could be caffeine, lack of physical activity, anxiety, and even certain foods or hormonal shifts. However, stress could also bring on a migraine as well as tiredness and even bouts of anxiety or depression.

Tension-type headaches might be chronic, which means they occur at least 15 times each month or they could be episodic which means they occur less than 15 times each month. A cluster headache can last for several weeks or months before a period of remission. A hemicrania can be chronic, which means three to five headaches each day or it can be remitting, which means that a person may experience daily headaches for as long as six months followed by a headache-free period.

Although tension headaches tend to be the most common, migraines can occur several times each week. When they occur, they can last for as little as a few hours to as long as a few days. Usually, migraines occur less frequently than other types of headaches and tend to resolve over time, especially after age 30.

Tension-type headaches are the ones that feel like you have a tight band wrapped around your head. What you feel is sort of a dull yet intense pressure all around that space. Cluster headaches are more severe and are isolated on one side of the head, typically close to the eye. Hemicrania is a persistent headache that presents on one side of the head. The pain level of these types of headaches fluctuates.

With a migraine, the pain isn't dull by any means. Plus, it's accompanied by other symptoms. It's more of a throbbing sensation so while there's already an underlying severe level of pain, the throbbing only intensifies that pain, making a migraine much more painful and intense than a typical headache.

With a headache, the symptoms are pretty straightforward. This is especially true with a tension-type headache, which is one of the most common types of headache. It's pressure all around your head and doesn't usually involve any other symptoms.

With a migraine, you're not just dealing with that intense throbbing pain, but you're also dealing with other symptoms. Those might include sensitivity to light, sensitivity to sound, nausea, and even vomiting in some cases.

If you have a headache, you can typically turn to an over-the-counter pain reliever like acetaminophen or ibuprofen. This is usually strong enough to help relieve the intensity of a headache and let you go on about your day.

Migraine intensity doesn't respond to over-the-counter medications nearly as well as other headaches do. Instead, those with migraines find that their symptoms respond best to triptans (serotonin receptor agonists), which are medications designed specifically for migraine relief.

The typical tension-type headache is located all around the head as if you were wearing a headband.

The pain location for a migraine is usually on either side of your head (instead of all around).

Headaches affect all genders just about the same. There isn't any data showing that tension-type headaches affect one group more than the other. That's not the case for migraine headaches, however.

Studies show that women are much more likely to experience migraine headaches post-puberty. Northwestern Medicine confirms that migraines tend to be more prevalent in males during childhood. Then, after puberty, when estrogen production begins, females are more likely to experience migraine attacks. This is because estrogen controls the brain chemicals that influence pain sensations. Hormonal fluctuations that occur in women's bodies tend to trigger migraines. This can happen just before menstruation, during pregnancy, and after giving birth. Hormonal fluctuations continue into the later years of a woman's life during perimenopause and menopause. Additionally, hormones are influenced by oral contraceptives. (Here are 50 key ways women can improve their health.)

Headaches don't have any kind of premonitory or prodromal phase. They just occur.

Migraines, on the other hand, have a premonitory phase. This can start as early as several days before the migraine arrives. During this phase, several symptoms occur but they're not painful. You might notice that your neck is feeling a little stiffer than usual or you're craving a certain type of food you don't usually crave. You might notice that your mood shifts suddenly without any apparent cause or you might find yourself frequently yawning. You may also notice that you're starting to get that familiar sensitivity to light and sound and your tummy may get upset (which may cause either diarrhea or constipation).

With a headache, you do not experience an aura. This is when your vision, speech, or touch is affected.

Those with migraines may experience several different aura phases. For example, a visual aura occurs when vision is affected. This could cause blurred vision, blind spots, zigzagging lines, or even flashing lights. There are also sensory auras that can cause a tingling sensation or numbness that starts in the arms and reaches the face. There are also motor auras that affect your ability to think coherently and communicate your thoughts in an intelligible way. You might notice that you're having difficulty understanding what other people are saying or you may have difficulty putting your thoughts into words.

After a headache has subsided, people usually feel good as new. They don't have any lingering effects from a tension-type headache or even some of the more severe types of headaches mentioned in this article.

Migraines are a bit different. Many times, people who experience migraines are left with a sort of migraine hangover. Usually, they're absolutely drained from the experience and may have a foggy brain. There are some people who report feeling kind of high or an extreme sense of joy after a migraine headache (though that experience seems to be the exception).

The impact of a tension-type headache only lasts for a few hours and that's if you refuse to take medication. However, if you take some over-the-counter medications, the symptoms of your headache subside rather quickly and you can continue the tasks of the day without much delay.

A migraine headache is so severe that it impacts your ability to function. You may not be able to attend school or make it to work and even if you do, you won't be able to concentrate and your work will be affected. Because these can go on for such a long period of time, they don't just affect you for one day or only for a couple of hours. They can seriously impact your ability to carry out all the tasks your life requires. (Certain foods can trigger migraines, but some foods are bad for your overall health.)