Chronic Migraine Explained: When Headaches Signal a Neurological Condition
Mar 02, 2026
Anyone can experience an occasional headache, and most are manageable and short-lived. However, chronic migraine, a neurological condition many people associate with headaches, is more than your typical tension-type headache.
If you experience debilitating migraine attacks that affect you for at least 15 days of the month, our multidisciplinary team at Delaware NeuroRehab can help you manage them. Individualized neurorehabilitation may reduce the frequency and severity of your migraines.
Here’s everything you need to know about chronic migraine and how to distinguish the condition from other headache types.
Headaches and migraine attacks can both involve head pain or tension, along with possible fatigue. However, migraine attacks don’t always cause head pain. When they do, the headache may only last for one of several migraine phases.
Many people with chronic migraine experience an initial pre-migraine attack phase called a prodrome. You might notice small changes in your senses during a migraine prodrome, like trouble concentrating or fatigue.
An aura phase may follow, causing additional symptoms as the condition affects different parts of the brain. People who experience migraine with aura might notice vision changes, vertigo, or other signs that the headache phase is getting close.
The headache phase of a migraine attack can have a wide range of symptoms, including:
If you’re not sure whether your headaches are a sign of chronic migraine, a neurological exam can provide insight into what’s happening inside your brain.
Experts still don’t fully understand chronic migraine, but they have theories. They believe migraine attacks might happen because of blood flow, electrical, or neurotransmitter-related changes in the brain.
Migraine attacks may also happen because of a malfunction in pain-processing regions of the brain.
If you live with chronic migraine, you might notice that certain behaviors, foods, or medications can trigger migraine attacks. Common migraine triggers include:
Some conditions and injuries increase your risk of experiencing chronic migraine, including concussions, sleep disorders, and depression.
Once our Delaware NeuroRehab team establishes a chronic migraine diagnosis, we help manage the neurological condition and prevent attacks. Identifying your triggers is a great place to start. Once you do, avoid those triggers as much as possible.
There are also medications to improve migraine attack symptoms and preventive pharmaceuticals to reduce your chances of a migraine attack.
Botulinum toxin (Botox), for example, is an injectable neurotoxin that deactivates targeted nerves and may prevent migraine attacks while active.
Lifestyle changes might also help reduce the impact of chronic migraine on your well-being.
Alongside personalized neurorehabilitation and other treatments, our Delaware NeuroRehab team might recommend sleeping more consistently, changing your eating habits, or exercising more often.
If you regularly experience headaches and other migraine attack symptoms, don’t hesitate to get in touch for personalized testing and treatment. Call your nearest Delaware NeuroRehab office or request an appointment online today.