Migraine

Hi Everyone!
I'm not exactly sure how to phrase this question so that it will make sense, so bear (sp?) with me...

From what I have learned here the past few months, the current medical understanding of migraines seems to be along the lines of:

Migraine is a genetic neurological disease that presents itself in migraine attacks when the neurologically sensitive brain encounters a stimulus that acts as a trigger. (if someone can give me the "official" description, or even a better phrased one, that would be great.)

Does our current medical understanding of chronic tension type headaches follow this same model? Assume for the moment that MOH is not involved, does a person with very frequent tension type headaches follow this pattern? Are their brains reacting to a trigger, or is it more of an issue of their muscles tensing and resulting in pain?

I hope this question makes sense.

Nikki

To my knowledge, Tension-Type Headaches do not need a trigger as with most Migraines.

Although TTH can be brought on from stress and/or tension (the way you hold yourself during stress, your muscles may tense up and cause the headache) I don't find this to be necessary.

For me, TTH is sometimes stress related, but not always.

On the other hand, a TTH can trigger a Migraine attack.

Migraine, for the most part, have triggers that bring on the attack, but not always! If there is a problem with Itracranial Hypertension, there may not be a certain thing that caused the Migraine, other then IIH. Same with Chiari Malformation.

Anatomy of a Migraine may help you understand the Migraine process.

You are correct Migraine is a neurological disease. Tension headadces are not. About 80% of Americans suffer with or can suffer from a Tension Headache, whereas Migraineurs actually have a neurological disorder.

Does this help?

yes, that helps a lot! Thank you!!

Nikki

Just throwing in my 2 cents here...

Eileen's post made a lot of sense, but I would say that if you are seeing a pattern with TTH, don't discount it. The body is so complex and interconnected, that changing one thing can affect another.

I wouldn't expect it to be as consistent or predictable as some migraine triggers are, but I'm confident that there are *tons* of causal and contributing factors for TTH.