Not all headaches are migraines, not all migraines are headaches. Headache is one of the most common forms of pain. Although the cause is unknown, the pain that causes it is due to a dilation of the arteries located in the skull.
A migraine is a recurrent, throbbing, intense headache that usually affects one side of the head, although it can affect both. The pain starts abruptly and may be preceded or accompanied by visual, neurological, or gastrointestinal symptoms.
Although migraine can start at any age, it usually begins in people between 10 and 30 years of age. It sometimes disappears after 50 and is more common in women than in men. Taking into account that more than 50 percent of people with migraine have relatives who also suffer from it, presumably the trend may be genetically transmitted. In general, migraine pain is more severe than tension headaches.
The trigeminal nerve is in the brain and transmits sensitivity to the head. One of the branches of this nerve connects to the blood vessels of the meninges, tissue that covers the brain. Occasionally, the meninges become inflamed causing a sensation of pain that is transmitted to the brain through the trigeminal and thus causes the headache: that is, migraine.