What's the difference between a migraine and a headache?
Most people have had a headache at one time or another, and many use the word “migraine” when things get intense. But they aren’t actually the same thing, and the difference matters more than you might think. If you’ve been trying to sort out what’s the difference between a migraine and a headache, it comes down to how your nervous system is reacting versus what’s happening with muscles around your head and neck.
Quick answer
A headache usually feels like pressure-like someone’s tightening a band around your head. A migraine has more of a throbbing, pulsing feeling and it tends to come with other symptoms like nausea or sensitivity to light. Migraines also hang around longer and like to come back in patterns. Here’s a chart of some of the differences:
Migraine vs Headache Comparison
| Feature | Migraine | Headache |
|---|---|---|
| Type of pain | Throbbing or pulsing | Pressure or tightness |
| Location | Often one side | Often both sides |
| Sensitivity | Light, sound, nausea | Usually none |
| Duration | Hours to days | Typically shorter |
| Common triggers | Hormones, sensory input | Posture, dehydration |
How the pain actually feels, Migraine vs headache symptoms:
If you’re thinking, “I’ve had both,” you’re definitely not alone.
Lots of people describe migraines as if someone turned up the volume on every sensation—the light feels brighter, noises seem louder, and movement can make everything worse. These can be debilitating to the point where the only thing you feel like you can do it lay down and close your eyes.
Headaches mostly stay in the “dull and annoying”category that make you irritable and don’t want to deal with things, even though you can. Tension headaches can absolutely feel miserable too, but often less so than migraines.
Migraines typically cause pain on one side of the head over another, whereas headaches are more content to spread across your forehead or temples. Of course, again, this is not a hard-and-fast rule-just something many people notice.
Neurological issues vs. Physical Discomfort
With a migraine, nausea, dizziness, visual disturbances, or some kind of general feeling that something’s “off” often precedes the pain itself. That’s one of the easiest ways to differentially diagnose a migraine from a regular headache.
Headaches often have more to do with tension, especially in the neck, shoulders, or jaw. When discomfort feels like a sharp pain behind your eyes or at the base of your skull, posture and muscle tension usually play a big role in these pains. If that sounds all too familiar, you might benefit from an evaluation regarding posture and neck mechanics via chiropractic care.
How long they last and why they keep coming back
Most common headaches last a few hours at most and often subside when you drink some water, do some stretches, or simply take a break from screens for a while to give your body a rest. These are fairly easy changes you can make without much effort.
Migraines are different – they tend to stretch for many hours up to a couple of days and don’t go away easily unless you fix the root cause of their problem. If you don’t begin to sleep better, reduce stress, or fix a hormone imbalance, they’ll keep returning.
Headache vs Migraine Treatment Differences
If you’re dealing with regular headaches, start by looking at everyday triggers—hydration, posture, diet, stress, and how much screen time you’re getting. Those things tend to influence muscle tension around the neck and shoulders, which explains why tension headaches often calm down once you stretch, drink water, or adjust your workstation. A lot of people are surprised by how much posture alone can change the frequency of their headaches.
Migraines are a different story. They behave more like a neurological event than a simple “head discomfort,” which is why they often need a bigger-picture approach. Functional Medicine focuses on the body-wide patterns that set migraines off—hormones, inflammation, food sensitivities, and sleep disruption, to identify why your nervous system keeps reacting so strongly.
Functional medicine works well for solving both issues as the goal is to figure out the root cause of why you’re experiencing these symptoms and applying the right treatment. Chiropractic adjustments or soft tissue work may be one of the recommendations we recommend to alleviate your specific pain, but the answer isn’t the same for everyone.
Headaches and Migraines related to Concussions
If you have been recently in an accident or had some head trauma, headaches or migraines related to concussions are very concerning. They often feel more intense than a typical tension headache but don’t always behave like a true migraine. Post-concussion headaches may linger for days or weeks, and they can be triggered by screens, noise, or even mild physical activity. Some also include dizziness or balance issues, which makes them easy to mistake for migraine symptoms.
Be sure to contact your doctor immediately if a post-concussion headache has been lasting longer than a few hours.
When to reach out to your doctor
It may be time to reach out if:
- You’re getting headaches more frequently or longer in duration
- Symptoms aren’t subsiding using your normal remedies
- Pain seems connected to neck movement or posture
- Nausea or sensory sensitivity keeps returning
Active Edge Chiropractic & Functional Medicine in Columbus provides a variety of evaluations to our patients with an emphasis on finding the underlying reason symptoms continue rather than only masking pain. If you are having chronic headaches and would like to get to the bottom of these conditions, contact us today and we’ll be happy to schedule you for an appointment.
