There are all sorts of reasons for being on a search for information on things like migraine triggers.

You may suffer from migraine headaches yourself or someone you know may have migraines. Alternatively, you might have just had a member of your family diagnosed with migraines or could simply be a student researching a paper on this all too common form of headache. Regardless of why you are looking into the subject of migraines you will find that there is quite a quantity of information to be had on the topic.

The medical disorder migraine is known as a neurological syndrome and its key characteristics in the majority of people are generally very painful headaches and nausea. It is also interesting to note that this fairly common condition is suffered by more women than men.

A migraine headache produces a pain that is generally found on one side of the head and can be described as throbbing or pulsating in nature. A migraine headache will typically last anything from 4 hours to 72 hours and might be moderate to severe in intensity. There can also be other additional symptoms such as vomiting or sensitivity to light or sound.

Another interesting feature of some migraines is the presence of an "aura" in at least one-third of individuals suffering from migraine. An aura happens prior to the onset of the migraine and may include the appearance of bright lights, zigzag lines or distorted shapes in various sizes and colors which block the normal line of vision. The field of vision could also reduce and can look like tunnel vision or maybe a curtain-like effect frequently over one eye or dark spots which slowly spread.

There can also be auditory effects such as hearing voices or environmental sounds such as buzzing. You may experience strange smells or sensations of numbness on one side of the face or in the legs and arms. You may experience a feeling of being separated from your own body or a feeling like your legs and arms are moving independently from your body. You may experience anxiety or fear during the aura or an unsteadiness or weakness. Sometimes individuals who experience an aura are unable to understand words that are spoken to them and may become extremely tired and sweat profusely or feel warmth throughout the body.

In addition to describing migraines in terms of whether or not they are accompanied by an aura there are other ways of describing migraines.

For example, familial hemiplegic migraines (FHM) are migraines that are the result of ion channel mutations. Those individuals suffering from this form of migraine typically experience weakness in the limbs on one side of their body as well as visual, sensory or speech problems.

A further form of migraine is the abdominal migraine in which children get many of the symptoms of a migraine headache with the exception of the head pain. Typical symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain might last from 1 hour to 72 hours.

Finally, acephalgic and menstrual migraines are another two reasonably common forms of migraine. Acephalgic migraines are those in which an individual normally experiences auras but does not experience a headache. Menstrual migraines are either menstrual related migraines (MRM) or pure menstrual migraines (PMM). The menstrual related migraine is moderate to severe in pain intensity and occurs about the same time as the monthly period and at other times too. The pure menstrual migraine occurs only at about the same time as a woman's monthly period.

Migraine headaches are a real problem for many people but fortunately there is a great deal of information available nowadays on everything from migraine headache symptoms to migraine medicine.