Migraine ups skin pain risk

People who suffer with migraine are more likely to experience exacerbated skin sensitivity or pain after non-painful everyday activities, such as rubbing their head, combing their hair or wearing earrings, the results of a new study indicate.

A team of researchers surveyed over 16,500 people who suffered with headaches. The participants were asked about the type of headaches they suffered from and the frequency of these. They were also asked about their quality of life, depression and other illnesses that can cause pain.

Of the participants, 11,737 were identified as having migraine, 1,491 were deemed to be suffering from probable migraine, while the remainder had some other kind of headache.

The study found that 68% of those with chronic migraine (headaches occurring daily or almost daily) and 63% of those with episodic migraine reported having allodynia, a condition in which ordinarily non-painful stimuli evoke pain.

A further 42% of those with probable migraine had the condition, compared to 37% of those with daily or tension headaches.

“This condition causes discomfort or pain during everyday activities like touching one’s hair or putting on clothes. More importantly, this condition may be a risk factor for migraine progression, where individuals have migraines on more days than not”, explained study author, Dr Marcelo Bigal of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

He pointed out that identifying risk factors for migraine progression is a very important public health priority.

“For example, it may be that individuals with allodynia should be more aggressively treated in order to prevent migraine progression, as well as to decrease this sensitivity on the skin”, Dr Bigal said.

The study also found that this type of skin pain was more common in women with migraine and people with migraine who were obese or had depression.

Details of these findings are published in the medical journal, Neurology.

Migraine currently affects around 400,000 people in Ireland. It is characterised by a severe, one-sided headache that can last up to three days. It can be accompanied by symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light and/or noise.

[Posted: Tue 22/04/2008]