How Long Can a Migraine Headache Last

how long can migraines last

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If an ordinary headache can seem like a brief firefight, then a migraine headache is more like a full on artillery bombardment. If you don’t get migraines, be thankful that you don’t know how accurate this analogy actually is. This isn’t small arms fire being exchanged, it’s howitzers letting fly with big shells, and the booming pain is as real as it gets with a migraine headache. How long can migraines last? The unfortunate reality is that if you get migraines, you will get them on an ongoing basis. Fortunately, migraine treatment medications like Relpax can take the edge off them significantly. 

Does that mean the guns fall silent? Not quite, but the intensity of the battle between your ears will diminish quite significantly. And if that allows a migraine sufferer to have many more normal days, then that’s a beautiful thing. People with migraines may be having a demon of a time at work, yet their coworkers make nothing of it.Those with migraine with aura have it even worse with the fact they get flashing lights, blind spots, and changes to their visual field before the headache part of it all even begins. But how long can migraines last? 

Migraines can last anywhere from 4 to 72 hours, and if you’re new to having these types of headaches, imagine the thought of dealing with migraine pain for 3 full days is pretty discouraging. Fortunately, that is never the case for most people, but having migraines that can last half a day or more is much more standard on the other end of things. Of course, the whole package is a major nuisance, but it is a good thing that at least these people have pharmacology allies like migraine nasal sprays and more to add to their arsenal. 

Lean Left, Lean Right 

We’re not talking about partisan politics here;let’s look at how long can migraines last in more detail. We’ll also share a little bit of what else we’ve dug up about other approaches to reducing migraine pain. After all, no one wants to live in fear of their next headache any more than they need to. But we’re going with lean left or lean right because one thing your migraines will do is have a preferential location. They’ll either be very fond of the LEFT side or your head, or they may like the RIGHT side more. 

Having migraine headaches leaning hard to one side of your head or the other is another part of how they work, although migraines and balance issues are not related to how long migraines last. Losing their balance or having their hearing affected because of the migraine being pronounced in one side of their head becomes even more of a problem when people are older and may already be unsteady on their feet for other reasons. This is one of many surprising symptoms of a migraine attack, and having your hearing go whacky can be one of them too. 

Getting back to how long can a migraine headache last, they may last longer for people based on hormone levels. And there’s one hormone, in particular, that tends to factor into things really powerfully – Estrogen. So does that mean women get migraines worse than men? Yes, it does. 

Help from HRT

Even if it’s just a handful of hours for how long migraines can last, it’s going to be a bad stretch for the person, and whether they’re of either gender. But as we mentioned above, women get these headaches more than men, and research that suggests around 23% more often. And to take all of this even more gender inequal, women who get migraines may get them much worse during or after menopause. Hormone therapies that work for menopause are different from the ones that are used to make migraines less severe, but they are based on the same principle – rebalancing hormone levels in the body.

Not much more to say about how long can migraines last, except maybe to add that having a solid sleep / wake cycle (circadian rhythm) helps manage migraines, and that being properly hydrating can benefit you too. Add limiting caffeine and alcohol to the equation, and you may be well along the path towards caring much less about how long migraines can last. When you’ve got them under control, you’re much less likely to be terrified of when the next one is coming and how long it will continue.


IMPORTANT NOTE: The above information is intended to increase awareness of health information and does not suggest treatment or diagnosis. This information is not a substitute for individual medical attention and should not be construed to indicate that use of the drug is safe, appropriate, or effective for you. See your health care professional for medical advice and treatment.


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