If you’ve been newly diagnosed with migraine, you might be feeling both relief at finally having a name for your pain and anxiety about what comes next. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformation out there about migraine. Well-meaning friends, family, or internet sources might be filling your head with “advice” that’s outdated, oversimplified, or just plain wrong. These myths can hold you back from better days by making you feel hopeless or by steering you away from effective management strategies. In this post, we’ll debunk a few common (and not-so-common) migraine myths — including a few that disproportionately affect women — so you can move forward with facts, hope, and confidence in your migraine journey.
Myth: Migraine is just a bad headache.
One of the most common misconceptions is that a migraine attack is nothing more than a severe headache — something you can grit your teeth through or treat with an over-the-counter pill. In reality, migraine is much more than “just a headache.” It’s a complex neurological disorder with multiple phases and a wide array of symptoms.
Yes, intense head pain is often one hallmark of migraine, but some migraine attacks involve no head pain at all. As headache specialist Dr. Jennifer McVige explains, “Migraine is actually a primary headache disorder and is much more than just a headache. In fact, headaches are only one symptom of migraine, and some migraines don’t have a headache at all.” In other words, migraine is not defined solely by head pain. It’s defined by the constellation of symptoms and neurological changes that occur.
To put it in perspective, here are just a few of the possible symptoms someone might experience during a migraine attack:
- Throbbing or pounding pain that can engulf the whole head or occur on one side.
- Heightened sensitivity to light, sound, or smells (normal stimuli can feel unbearable).
- Nausea and vomiting, sometimes with loss of appetite or an upset stomach.
- Visual disturbances (aura) like blurry vision, flashing spots, or zigzag lines in your sight.
This list isn’t exhaustive, as migraine symptoms vary widely from person to person. Many people also report dizziness, fatigue, neck stiffness, tingling in the face or limbs, and difficulty thinking clearly during attacks.The key takeaway is that migraine is a whole-body experience, not just head pain.
A migraine attack can last for hours or even days, and it can be severely disabling, making it hard or impossible to work, study, or go about daily life. In fact, the World Health Organization ranks migraine among the top causes of disability worldwide. So if anyone ever implies you should just “tough it out” during a migraine attack, know that the science says otherwise. Migraine is a neurological storm, not a simple ache, and it deserves proper treatment and understanding.
Myth: Migraine attacks always have obvious triggers you can avoid.
You may have heard that migraines are caused by triggers like certain foods or stress, and that if you could just pinpoint and avoid your triggers, you’d never have an attack. It’s true that many people with migraine have trigger factors. Common culprits include stress, bright or flashing lights, lack of sleep, alcohol, caffeine, specific foods (like aged cheeses or chocolate), strong smells, weather changes, and hormonal shifts. Keeping a migraine diary to identify your personal triggers is indeed a useful tool. However, the idea that every migraine attack is avoidable by managing triggers is a myth.
In reality, triggers are highly individual and sometimes unpredictable. While avoiding known triggers can reduce the frequency of attacks, it’s not possible to prevent every migraine by trigger avoidance alone. For one thing, you simply can’t avoid many triggers. You can’t control the weather, hormones, or random noises and smells you encounter. Even when you do everything “right,” migraines can still strike out of the blue with no clear cause. Migraine is a complex brain condition that isn’t 100% within your control, so don’t blame yourself when attacks occur.
That said, learning your patterns can empower you. Some people find, for example, that a combination of poor sleep plus skipping meals plus stress might set them up for an attack. Keeping a diary can reveal these patterns. But even the most diligent tracking might not catch every trigger. Sometimes, the brain just has a migraine attack.
Instead of chasing perfection in avoiding triggers (which can add stress), focus on overall “headache hygiene”: living a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Regular sleep, hydration, balanced meals, exercise, and stress management can raise your threshold for migraine, making attacks less likely or less severe. In short, triggers matter, but they aren’t the whole story. Don’t let this myth make you feel guilty for having a migraine attack or obsessive about avoiding every little thing. Just make sensible lifestyle choices and have a treatment plan for when attacks do occur.
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Myth: It’s “all in your head.” Just relax and think positive to cure your migraine.
Few myths are as frustrating (or as hurtful) to people with migraine as the suggestion that it’s a purely psychological problem. How many times has someone told a migraine patient, “Maybe if you stop stressing so much, you wouldn’t get headaches,” or “Try to think positive — you’re probably bringing it on yourself”? This myth likely stems from the fact that stress and emotions can trigger migraines, but it twists that truth into a damaging lie. Let’s set the record straight: Migraine is not a personality flaw or a failure of willpower. It is a neurological disorder. You cannot simply “wish away” a migraine attack by chilling out or adopting a sunny attitude.
Historically, especially for women (more on that soon), migraines were dismissed as hysteria or neurosis. We now know that couldn’t be further from the truth. Modern medicine recognizes migraine as a complex brain disorder involving genetic, biochemical, and neurological factors. For example, during a migraine attack, there is activation of the trigeminal nerve system and inflammation of blood vessels in the brain. It’s not something you consciously control. The pain and symptoms are very real, and migraine is one of the most disabling illnesses globally.
While you can’t cure migraine with positive thinking, there are healthy habits that can help reduce the frequency of attacks. Practices often called “headache hygiene” — like managing stress, eating well, staying hydrated, maintaining a regular sleep schedule, and exercising — can make a difference. These lifestyle measures may lower your migraine frequency or intensity over time.
However, no amount of yoga or meditation is a cure for migraine, and implying that someone’s migraine attacks are their own fault for “not relaxing” is both untrue and unfair. The bottom line: migraine is a genuine medical condition, not a mental weakness. So next time someone says “just calm down” as a cure, you can confidently cite the World Health Organization and neurologists who affirm migraine’s biological basis. Use stress reduction as one tool in your toolbox, but don’t buy into the myth that your mindset alone caused (or can cure) your migraine.
Myth: Migraine only affects women. Men don’t get migraine.
Migraine is often thought of as a “woman’s disease.” It is true that migraine is about three times more common in women than in men, largely due to hormonal factors. But men absolutely do get migraines – and they often suffer in silence because of this myth. Believing that “real men don’t get headaches” not only invalidates male migraine sufferers, but it can also delay their diagnosis and treatment. In the U.S. alone, more than 38 million people have migraine — including 1 in 5 women, 1 in 16 men, and even 1 in 11 children. So while women are in the majority, millions of men and kids are living with migraine, too.
If you’re a man with migraine, you’re not an anomaly and you shouldn’t feel the need to just “tough it out.” In fact, men with migraine may face some unique health risks. Research shows that male migraine sufferers have a slightly higher risk of cardiovascular events like stroke and heart attack, which makes it even more important to get proper medical care.
Unfortunately, because of the old “woman’s disease” stereotype, men are sometimes less likely to seek help. They may try to power through the pain or dismiss it as just stress, which can lead to unnecessary suffering. Migraine doesn’t care about your gender. It’s a neurological condition that can affect anyone with a brain. And it’s certainly not just a modern problem or first-world problem, either; migraine has been recorded throughout history and across cultures, in both men and women.
The good news is that awareness is growing. Advocacy organizations now produce videos and articles aimed at men with migraine. If you’re newly diagnosed and happen to be male (or you know a man who might have migraine), don’t let this myth stop you from seeking treatment. Migraines are not a sign of weakness. Everyone, regardless of gender, deserves relief and support for this condition.
Myth: Migraine has nothing to do with hormones or “that time of the month.”
On the flip side of the previous myth, some people dismiss the very real link between migraine and hormones. Perhaps in reaction to migraine being stereotyped as a “woman’s problem,” you’ll hear people claim, “Oh, hormones have nothing to do with it — a migraine is just a headache, stop blaming it on your period.” This is a myth with roots in outdated medical thinking.
In the 19th century, one prominent male doctor insisted he was “not aware that menstruation affects [migraine] in the slightest,” contradicting the observations of women physicians at the time. We now know he was quite wrong. For many women, hormonal fluctuations are a powerful migraine trigger. In fact, about 50-60% of women with migraine notice a link with their menstrual cycle (often a worsening of attacks around the time of their period). So yes, hormones do matter in migraine.
Why does this happen? The prevailing theory is that the drop in estrogen that occurs right before menstruation can spark migraine attacks in susceptible individuals. That’s why some women experience intense menstrual migraines in the days leading up to their period. Likewise, other hormonal shifts — such as during pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause — can influence migraine patterns. For instance, some women get migraine relief during pregnancy or after menopause when estrogen levels stabilize, while others might see new patterns emerge. It’s highly individual, but the point is: migraine is often intertwined with the hormonal rollercoaster. Dismissing this connection helps no one.
On the bright side, knowing there’s a hormonal component means you and your doctor can anticipate and plan for those extra-vulnerable times. Some women use mini-preventive strategies around their period (like taking magnesium or a NSAID in the days prior) to ward off menstrual migraines. Of course, always discuss treatments with your healthcare provider first.
And here’s an empowering fact: even something as natural as breastfeeding may actually help some women with migraine. Contrary to an old myth that breastfeeding causes migraine (this was believed in the 1700s, when doctors blamed “over-suckling” for mothers’ headaches!), we now know that breastfeeding keeps estrogen levels steadier, which can prevent the sudden drops that trigger migraine attacks. (Of course, the stress and sleep deprivation of caring for a newborn can trigger migraine too, so every new mom’s experience will differ.)
The bottom line is that hormones are one piece of the migraine puzzle for many women. Recognizing hormonal effects on migraine can lead to better treatment plans, bringing you one step closer to those better days.
And now, a migraine truth: Neuromodulation can help you feel better.
Medication is typically the first line of defense against migraine, but it’s not your only option. Many headache specialists recommend a multimodal approach to migraine treatment. That means layering multiple treatments that work, such as medication, supplements, lifestyle changes/trigger avoidance, and neuromodulation devices that target the nerves involved in migraine pain.
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