Migraine has been thought, for many years, to be a woman’s disease. Women got migraine when they were pregnant, or when they were stressed. Men rarely experienced migraine, according to the common belief.

Now, however, it is becoming clear that men also may be prone to migraine.

Online Survey Results

A recent online survey (October 2007) conducted by the National Headache Foundation (NHF) resulted in a finding that men who were diagnosed with headache of some kind were most often diagnosed with migraine headache. In the United States alone, it is estimated, about 7.5 million men experience migraine headaches.

Soldiering On

As those who have experienced migraine will attest, migraine headaches can be debilitating. Despite that fact, men tend to take the silent approach when it comes to migraine. They don’t want to talk about it. Executive director of the NHF, Susan Simons, says:

“Unfortunately, many men who are suffering from migraine are not discussing their condition with their health care providers. It is important that men take the time to talk about their headaches so they receive the appropriate diagnosis and treatment plan.”

The online survey discovered that almost one third of all men who suffer from headaches never mention them to their physicians. Those who responded that they did not visit a healthcare provider about headaches made up a full twenty-four percent of those taking the survey. Men believed they should “soldier on” and that it would be a sign of weakness to talk to a doctor about their headaches. Even when the headache was migraine, men thought it was not something important enough to require physician’s care.

In the Genes

More than half of the men (55%) who reported that they had headaches had a family history of headaches. Whether they were migraine or not was not always known. A little over half said their mothers had headaches.

“It is important for people who suffer from headaches - both men and women - to visit their health care providers and discuss their headaches,” said Dr. Roger Cady, vice president and board member of the NHF. “Headaches can be treated and managed, so there is no need for men to tough them out.

6% Migraine of Men

It is said that about six percent of men will report experiencing a migraine in their lifetimes. That is compared to seventeen percent of women.

Finding Relief

Migraine can be relieved. Men (and women) need not soldier on in pain. Start by determining what causes your migraine. You don’t need a fancy journal, but jot down everything you remember about what was happening just before your headache. Include triggers such as food you ate, stress, environmental changes, etc. You will probably find that your migraines are produced by more than one trigger. Having identified them, you can take steps to avoid those triggers.

In addition, be sure you get sufficient sleep and exercise, and eat regularly to get Migraine Relief.

CAUTION: On rare occasions migraine is associated with other, more serious problems. Please consult your physician about your migraine headaches.

You have chronic migraine headaches. You can’t remember when they became chronic. You used to have simple headaches. Then they became more intense and frequent. Finally, you realized you were having migraine headaches often. That’s when your physician began calling it chronic migraine. You can’t remember the date, however. All you know is that you have frequent, regular migraines.

Too Many Pills

Your migraine may actually be caused by painkillers. Recent studies (2007) reveal that when patients take too much medication for a simple headache or tension headache, they can actually induce increasingly severe headaches. Your body responds to the medication taken, and the headache stops. When you feel another headache beginning, you take pills again. Soon, a cycle is set up. For each headache, you take too many pills, overmedicating yourself. The pills cause rebound headaches and, eventually, migraine.

What Kind of Pills

It doesn’t matter what kind of pills you use. According to the study, almost any pain killer can cause rebound migraine when you use too much.

* Excedrin: The likeliest culprits among over-the-counter (OTC) medications are those containing caffeine, such as Excedrin. The rebound effect is established early, with each new round of self-medication causing another rebound headache.

* Triptans: Among prescription drugs for headaches, the Triptans are the most common causes of rebound headache.

* Barbiturates: These problematic drugs not only cause rebound headaches but also produce dependency.

Eventually, what began as simple or tension headaches become chronic migraine.

Recommendation

As a result of the study, it is recommended that you and your physician try to prevent migraine attacks instead of using OTC or prescription medications that may increase the risk of rebound episodes.

Try to avoid triggers, whether they are food, stress, or environmental changes. You may want to work on stress management. You may use one of the many herbal and other natural remedies mentioned on this website.

Botox injections and Topiramate (Topamax) are also being recommended to prevent migraine.

CAUTION: The author is not a medical professional, and presents the information here for educational purposes only. Please see a physician if you have chronic migraine.

Many people suffer for months, or even years, before they learn the cause of migraine headaches. In fact, they may not even know that their headaches are migraines. The pain may have been misdiagnosed as tension headaches, sinus headaches, or some other malady.

You may be among those sufferers. You may even know that yours are migraine headaches. You have heard that migraine headaches have triggers. You may have heard that food can be a cause of migraine headaches. Someone may have warned you that sunspots or some other meteorological change can be the cause of migraine headaches. Everything you heard is general. Suggestions were muddled. Explanations were tentative, at best.

Finally, you wanted to know specifically, “Why do I have migraine headaches?” You wanted to get personal - to know your personal cause of migraine headaches!

Doctors Differ on Causes of Migraine Headaches

Doctors differ widely in their answers. Less thorough-going physicians may simply treat symptoms and show little interest in the root cause of migraine headaches. Better physicians may seek to identify the cause of migraine headaches in general, but not in your specific case. Most will agree that the cause of migraine headaches is probably chemical or electrical in nature.

Electrical Cause of Migraine Headaches

This belief states that the cause of migraine headaches is a wave of electrical activity. This electrical wave spreads across certain parts of the brain. As it spreads, it probably creates the migraine aura, by which we mean the temporary symptoms that tell you a migraine is coming. The electrical wave changes the neurons, or nerve cells, and then the blood vessels beside them.

Chemical Cause of Migraine Headaches

Those who lean toward the chemical cause of migraine headaches point to one of three possible chemical actions.

1. Nitric Oxide: fluctuations in chemicals within the brain. Studies have shown that the trigeminal neuron releases nitric oxide (NO). NO widens blood vessels. NO is involved in nerve cell activity, and is possibly a help in recognizing pain.

2. Serotonin: Another chemical cause of migraine headaches may be linked to changes in serotonin levels. Serotonin widens blood vessels. Scientists know that serotonin regulates pain, but they don’t understand how.

3. Hormones: It is known that hormones, linked to genetic structure, bring about a wide variety of changes in our bodies. Some researchers believe the cause of migraine headaches is hormonal. Adrenaline that is closely related to stress, for example, may be a cause of migraine headaches. Other hormones related to fatigue or relaxation, as well as environmental triggers such as alcohol and highly processed foods can also cause migraine. Pregnancy hormones can be a cause of migraine headaches.

Chemical causes of migraine headaches can interact. Female hormones of pregnancy may interact with serotonin. Stress hormones may interact with nitric oxide.

Trigeminovascular Cause of Migraine Headaches

As of this writing in August 2007, the most popular belief regarding the cause of migraine headaches is the trigeminovascular theory. Your trigeminovascular system includes your face: eyes, nose, mouth, and jaws. The belief is that migraine is the result of a chemical imbalance that begins in the brain. Some type of trigger initiates a succession of biological and chemical occurrences. These events create the warning aura. When the trigeminal nerves in your scalp and face release chemicals, arteries in your brain become inflamed. The inflammation causes the pulsing arteries to scream in pain.

Genetics

There is strong indication that your genes are a cause of migraine headaches Migraine seems to occur in families. Researchers have become convinced that inherited abnormalities in genes that control the activities of certain cell populations in the brain are the cause of migraine headaches.

Conclusion

Whether the cause of migraine headaches is any of the above three is not known conclusively. Each seems to be a piece of the puzzle. The final piece may remain to be discovered.

CAUTION: The information given here is presented for educational purposes only. If you suffer from migraine headaches, or you believe your pain is migraine, please see your physician. She or he will help you try to identify the cause of migraine headaches in your individual case.