Understanding migraine triggers and when to seek help

Migraine typically presents as a one-sided, throbbing headache lasting four hours to three days, often with nausea and sensitivity to light and sound. Some patients experience an aura of flickering lights or tingling before the pain begins.

Common triggers include irregular sleep, skipped meals, dehydration, excess caffeine, strong smells, bright or flickering light, menstrual hormonal shifts and psychological stress. Keeping a simple headache diary for six weeks — noting sleep, meals, stress and onset — usually reveals a personal pattern.

Seek neurological assessment if headaches are becoming more frequent, wake you from sleep, change in character, or come with weakness, slurred speech, visual loss, fever or neck stiffness. A sudden severe headache described as "the worst of my life" is a medical emergency.

Preventive treatment is available and effective for patients with four or more attacks a month, and does not need to be lifelong.