Diagnosis of Migraine Headaches

Michael Lucido here to talk to us about how to distinguish a migraine headache from a musculoskeletal headache which is very important when treating orthopedic or musculoskeletal patients. You can use the acronym POUND to distinguish wether the person is having a migraine or not. POUND is an evidence based approach that family practice doctors use. The "P" stands for pulsating. Is the headache pulsating? The "O" stands for hourly, but with an O. Typically a migraine headache will last from 7-15 hours or so. It is a fairly short duration. Classic migraine headaches usually last a half day to a day. The "U" stands for unilateral. The word migraine means unilateral in Greek. The headache is typically on one side of the head. The "N" is for nature of pain or nausea. The patient can be very nauseous when they have their headache. The "D" stands for disabling. Typically these patients are shut down. They are unable to go to work. They really struggle with relationships. They want to stay home. They find it to be a very disabling type of headache. The acronym POUND can help you to establish a diagnosis that is significant for migraine headaches.

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The Concierge Orthopedics team hopes you find this post helpful in your patient care and diagnosis. Want to hear more from Michael and the team? Subscribe to our email list, like and follow our posts on social media.