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Migraine & Back Pain

Many migraine sufferers also experience other pains, including back pain. While back tension may trigger migraines, it is likely migraines and back pain are two separate symptoms of the same cause: a difference in the sensory part of the brain.

  1. Tension

    • When tension causes the neck and back muscles to tighten, a tension migraine may ensue, which includes tension symptoms such as neck pain and migraine symptoms such as a throbbing headache and sensitivity to light and sound.

    Connection

    • As Dr. Nouchine Hadjikhani at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital has pointed out, many migraine sufferers also complain of other pains, including back pain.

    Cause and Effect

    • A study published in 1994 in Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, revealed that many patients with chronic lower back pain also experienced migraines, and in fact the onset of back pain triggered or worsened subsequent migraines.

    Brain Structure

    • A 2007 neurological study by Massachusetts General Hospital discovered that migraine sufferers have a somatosensory cortex--the area of the brain associated with pain and the sense of touch--that appears up to 21 percent thicker than that of other individuals.

    Ramifications

    • While it is unknown whether the migraines thicken the somatosensory cortex or vice versa, this brain abnormality among migraine sufferers explains why the migraineur is prone to many types of pain, including back pain.

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