03/11/2026
Migraines 1
What are migraines?
Migraine is a complex long-term neurological condition. If you have a migraine, you have repeated migraine attacks. They tend to involve a moderate to severe headache along with other symptoms. It is thought a migraine attack is caused by the nerves in your brain becoming over stimulated.
Migraines are classed depending on how often you get attacks. This is different for everyone:
• Episodic migraine is when you have headache and migraine symptoms on less than 15 days per month
• Chronic migraine is when you have headaches on at least 15 days per month, with migraine symptoms on at least 8 of those for 3 months or more.
Around 1 in 7 people worldwide get migraines. Which is around 10 million in the UK. Over 1 million people are chronic sufferers. Migraine can affect anyone and can start at any age but it's most common between the ages of 25 and 55. Children can get migraine too. Both men and women can get migraine but it is two to three times more common in women than men.
Migraine attacks vary from person to person but typically last between 4 hours and 3 days. Most people don't have any symptoms in between migraine attacks. However, you might find it takes days to recover from a migraine attack. And some people with chronic migraine may have symptoms on a daily basis.
