Abstract
Background
A migraine is a primary headache disorder characterized by recurrent headaches that are moderate to severe. Neck pain may actually be the most common migraine symptom despite the fact that it is rarely listed among usual symptoms such as nausea and light sensitivity. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between migraine and neck pain.
Methods
A total of 50 patients (41 females and 9 males) diagnosed with migraine were included in the study. 50 patients with migraine were asked about the occurrence of neck symptoms during different phases of their attacks. Patients of both sex, aged 12–61 years, diagnosed as having migraine according to the definition of the ICHD-3-β, and having neck pain any time during the attack phase, were included in the study. Migraine severity was measured using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).
Results
In our study, we compared the clinical and demographic characteristics of migraine patients. While 89.1% of the patients reported that their headache and neck pain started and ended concurrently, only 10.9% of them had neck pain starting at different times in comparison to migraine headache (30 min before headache, 2 h before or later than headache and 12 h later than headache).
Conclusions
As a result of our study, we have concluded that neck pain begins simultaneously with migraine attacks and concurrently, and may be part of migraine attacks accordingly.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Lipton RB, Stewart WF, Diamond S et al(2001) Prevalence and burden of migraine in the United States: data from the American Migraine Study II. Headache 41(7):646–657
McMahon SB, Lewin GR, Wall PD (1993) Central hyperexcitability triggered by noxious inputs. Curr Opin Neurobiol 3:602–610
Pavlovic JM, Buse DC, Sollars CM et al (2014) Trigger factors and premonitory features of migraine attacks: summary of studies. Headache 54:1670–1679
Russo EB (2016) Clinical endocannabinoid deficiency reconsidered: current research supports the theory in migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel, and other treatment-resistant syndromes. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res 1:154–165
ICHD-3 beta (2013) The international classification of headache disorders, 3rd edition (beta version). Cephalalgia 33:629–808
Ashina S, Bendtsen L, Lyngberg AC et al (2015) Prevalence of neck pain in migraine and tension-type headache: a population study. Cephalalgia 35:211–219
Lampl C, Rudolph M, Deligianni CI et al (2015) Neck pain in episodic migraine: premonitory symptom or part of the attack? J Headache Pain 16:566
Calhoun AH, Ford S, Millen C et al (2010) The prevalence of neck pain in migraine. Headache 50:1273–1277
Fernández-de-Las-Peñas C, Cuadrado ML et al (2006) Myofascial trigger points, neck mobility and forward head posture in unilateral migraine. Cephalalgia 26:1061–1070
Blau JN, Thavapalan M (1988) Preventing migraine: a study of precipitating factors. Headache 28:481–483
Wolff HG (1968) Headache and other head pain, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, New York, p 227
Selby G (1983) Migraine and its variants. Avis Health Science Press, Sydney, p 34
Blau JN, MacGregor EA (1994) Migraine and the neck. Headache 34:88–90
Kaniecki RG (2002) Migraine and tension-type headache: an assessment of challenges in diagnosis. Neurology 58:S15–S20
Calhoun AH, Ford S, Millen C et al (2010) The prevalence of neck pain in migraine. Headache 50(8):1273–1277
Bendtsen L (2000) Central sensitization in tension-type headache-possible pathophysiological mechanisms. Cephalalgia 20:486–508
Scher AI, Stewart WF, Lipton RB (2006) The comorbidity of headache with other pain syndromes. Headache 46:1416–1423
Funding
The authors declared that this study has received no financial support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Ethical approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Özer, G., Benlier, N. Neck pain: is it part of a migraine attack or a trigger before a migraine attack?. Acta Neurol Belg 120, 289–293 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-018-1030-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-018-1030-9