The online migraine community Migraine.com ran a survey on its website to determine details about the migraine population. The survey got more than 2700 responses on some questions, and although it’s not a scientific survey it reveals a lot about migraine sufferers, such as who they are, and what their experience was like.
Perhaps the most important insight of the survey, though, is how hard it is for migraine sufferers to get good treatment for their condition.
Symptoms of Migraine
Among the insights of the survey is the disparity of the migraine experience. People with migraines experience many different symptoms that can often combine in different ways for each attack. Here are the different symptoms people reported and the percent of people who reported each:
- Head pain 98%
- Light sensitivity 91.1%
- Sound sensitivity 83.4%
- Inability to concentrate 80.2%
- Vomiting or nausea 78.6%
- Fatigue 74.5%
- Neck Pain 72.1%
- Sensitivity to smells 63.3%
Based on the frequency with which these symptoms are reported, it seems that the average migraine sufferer experiences six or more symptoms per attack, with headache being very common, but not universal.
How Often Migraines Occur
Many people also responded to the question about how often they suffered migraines. Here are how often a month they reported experiencing migraine attacks lasting at least four hours:
- 1-4 Days: 17.1%
- 5-9 Days: 20.8%
- 10-14 Days: 18.9%
- 15-19 Days:18.0%
- 20+ Days: 25.1%
Based on these results, the average migraineur suffers headaches 13 or more days a month, with a full quarter of sufferers experiencing migraine attacks at least two out of every three days.
Treatment Responses
With such common and often crippling attacks, people are likely to try to get relief in whatever way they can. Here are the frequency with which sufferers report trying different treatments:
- Over-the-counter (OTC) pain medication: 79.9%
- OTC migraine medication: 79.4%
- Prescription migraine pills: 90.0%
- Prescription pain pills: 60.8%
- Prescription migraine injection: 46.9%
- Prescription pain injection: 24.2%
- Other: 28.7%
Based on these responses, migraine sufferers have tried an average of 4 different migraine treatments (not counting how many different prescription pills they may have tried). Unfortunately, despite the numerous treatments they have tried, only about 34% of people are happy with their current migraine treatment. Drug side effects are the number one cause for dissatisfaction among sufferers.
Drug Free Treatment Option for Migraines
If you are among the two-thirds of migraine sufferers who are unhappy with your current migraine treatment, you may want to look for a new solution. At the Craniofacial Diagnostic Center of Colorado, we offer TMJ treatment that can often help diminish the frequency and severity of migraines without drugs and drug side effects.
To learn whether TMJ treatment might be able to help you, please call (303) 691-0267 at the TMJ Therapy & Sleep Center of Colorado in Denver today.
