Dr. Heather Pim
Clinical Neurologist, Director
of The Headache Clinic
University of Montreal
Health Center
While both men and women suffer from migraine, women are three times more likely to experience migraines than men.
Globally, one in eight suffer from Migraine.
“From the patient’s perspective, an acute attack is a pain that starts somewhere in the head and neck area and progresses, usually predominates on one side of the head, and it tends to have a pulsing quality, almost like a beating heart. There’s also many associated symptoms such as nausea, vomiting. Patients can become very sensitive to light, sound.”
Acute treatment aims to reverse, or at least stop, the progression of a migraine that has started.
“I always give the analogy of a fire in the kitchen. So if they came in and they saw a fire burning, what would they do? They’d react very quickly, and they would try to put out that fire as quickly as possible to minimize the damage. This is the exact same approach they should have with their migraines. So they need to take their abortive medication very rapidly, at the first signs of their migraine. And then repeat the dose approximately two hours later if they have any residual symptoms.”
~Dr. Heather Pim
For more information visit: www.headachesociety.ca