Migraine With Aura – The Basics

For more detailed information about aura symptoms, please see Anatomy of a Migraine.

Some differences in children:

1. In children, attacks may last 1–72 hours.
2. The headache of a Migraine attack is commonly bilateral (on both sides) in young children; an adult pattern of unilateral pain usually emerges in late adolescence or early adulthood.
3. In young children, photophobia and phonophobia may be inferred from observing their behavior.
4. The headache of a Migraine attack is usually frontotemporal (front and sides, toward the front, of head). Occipital (lower back of the head) headache in children, whether unilateral or bilateral, is rare and calls for caution in diagnosing as many cases are attributable to structural lesions. (See diagram.)

In MWA, a Migraine attack can consist of up to three phases:

1. Prodrome
2. Aura
3. Headache Phase
4. Postdrome

See Anatomy of a Migraine for a complete description of these phases and their symptoms.

It’s important to note that you can have more than one type of Migraine. It’s also not unusual to experience both headaches and Migraines. In fact, tension-type headaches can be a Migraine trigger.

If your doctor has diagnosed you with “Migraines,” ask for a more definitive diagnosis. That will make it easier for you to find information and learn about Migraine disease as it applies to you.

For information on other types of Migraine, see:

• Abdominal Migraine - The Basics
• Acephalgic or Silent Migraine – The Basics
• Alice In Wonderland Syndrome – The Basics
• Basilar-Type Migraine - the Basics
• Hemiplegic Migraine - The Basics
• Migraine Without Aura – the Basics
• Ocular, Optical, and Opthalmic Migraines
• Retinal Migraine - The Basics
• Status Migrainous - The Basics
• Transformed Migraine - The Basics

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Resources:

1 The International Classification of Headache Disorders, Second Edition. The International Headache Society. 2004.

© Teri Robert, 2004 - Present
Last updated July 17, 2008.