People think that migraine headaches are just like other types of headaches, yet simply more severe. That’s the first of many myths that surround this condition, and is perpetuated primarily by people who don’t get them themselves. Virtually every migraine sufferer can easily dispel all myths, but the problem is that not everyone pays attention. Even some doctors still view migraines through the lens of the myth rather than fact, which results in many frustrated, migraine patients who may be subject to incorrect treatments.

Many migraine myths involve people judging the sufferers themselves. So they may think a migraine is “just another headache,” when in fact sufferers are dealing with a genetically-based migraine disease, of which a headache is the most prominent symptom. This is evidenced by the fact that it’s actually possible to have a migraine without a headache at all. Because of this myth, treatments could be prescribed wrongly because a normal headache involves a narrowing of blood vessels in the head, while in a migraine the blood vessels expand. Another myth surrounding migraines is that they are psychological. However, being symptomatic of a genuine neurological disease, they result from actual physiological triggers that affect people’s nerve endings and prompt real physical changes.

Probably the most unnerving myth connected to migraine headaches, though, is the idea that they are always benign and won’t cause any long-term damage. This has been shown to be untrue. For one thing, in many cases there is a clear link between epilepsy and migraines. For other people, migraines have led to strokes, blindness or aneurysms. In still other cases, migraines have been misdiagnosed as “really” being clinical depression. So rather than receiving the migraine drugs they need, some patients have been given anti-depressants, which don’t help the headaches at all.

When thinking of possible myths connected to migraines, most people probably imagine something simple, like the myth that all migraine headaches come with the visual effects known as the aura. While that is a genuine myth, it is far less dangerous or unfair to migraine sufferers than these others. Treatment for the classic migraine isn’t going to be any different even if most patients don’t have the aura phenomenon. But perpetuating some of the other myths, especially those that judge the sufferer, only serves to make their life even worse. Far better that this disease be acknowledged, so they can get the proper treatment.

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