Migraine vs. Other Headaches: A Comprehensive Differential Diagnosis

Patients may be diagnosed with migraines when they actually have some other type of medical condition or disease. Proper diagnosis may take time and multiple tests.

Symptoms

• Migraines are characterized by symptoms such as severe headache located either at the front of the head or on just one side, eye pain, nausea, vomiting, vision problems and sensitivity to light and sound. Migraines may be preceded by an aura, which causes flashing lights to occur in the vision field, difficulty speaking, body tingling and confusion.

Other Types of Headaches

• Differential diagnoses for migraines include other types of headaches such as a cluster headache, common headache, tension headache and muscular contraction headache.

Other Medical Conditions

• Other medical conditions may also be differential diagnoses of migraines. Such conditions include brain tumor, sinusitis, multi-infarct dementia, transient ischemic attack, temporal arteritis, subarachnoid hemorrhage, lead poisoning, paresthesia and photophobia.

Diseases

• Diseases such as cyclic vomiting syndrome, epilepsy, Lyme disease and meningococcal disease are also possible differential diagnoses for migraines.

Diagnosis

• Migraines are typically diagnosed based on physical exams, patient description of symptoms and medical history. However, if the diagnosis is unclear, tests such as a CT scan, MRI or spinal tap may be needed to rule out other conditions.