Important medical disclaimer
Educational tools only — not medical care
Migraine Trail is not a healthcare provider, medical service, or medical device. These tools use information you enter and simplified educational rules. They may be incomplete or wrong and cannot examine you.
- Results do not diagnose, rule out, confirm, or predict any disease, headache type, trigger, emergency, or personal medical risk.
- Do not start, stop, combine, delay, or change a medicine or treatment—and do not delay professional care—because of a result.
- Labels such as “pattern,” “alignment,” “score,” “threshold,” “risk,” or “urgency” are educational summaries, not clinical findings or probabilities.
Discuss symptoms and decisions with a licensed healthcare professional who knows your history. For a child, involve a parent or guardian and an appropriate pediatric clinician.
If symptoms may be an emergency, stop using this site. Call your local emergency number or seek emergency care now. Never wait for or rely on a tool result.
Could This Be Migraine? Symptom Checker
Compare a typical untreated attack with recognized migraine and probable-migraine patterns—without turning a checklist into a diagnosis.
Check urgent warning signs before comparing symptoms.
A sudden worst-ever headache, new weakness or trouble speaking, seizure, fainting, fever with stiff neck, vision loss, or headache after a serious injury needs urgent or emergency assessment. Use the complete red-flag checker.
Diagnosis starts with a repeatable attack history
Migraine Trail records duration, pain features, associated symptoms, aura, medicines, and recovery so a clinician can review the pattern—not just the worst day.
How the migraine-pattern comparison works
| Criterion group | Recognized pattern | How this checker handles it |
|---|---|---|
| Attack history | At least 5 attacks | Fewer attacks can support a probable pattern, not an established one |
| Duration | 4–72 hours in adults; 2–72 hours under age 18 | Uses untreated or unsuccessfully treated duration |
| Pain features | At least 2: one-sided, pulsating, moderate/severe, activity aggravation | Counts the four features transparently |
| Associated symptoms | Nausea/vomiting or both light and sound sensitivity | Light or sound sensitivity alone does not complete this group |
| Exclusion | Not better accounted for by another diagnosis | Cannot be completed online; requires clinical judgment |
Clinical references
Frequently asked questions
Do I need one-sided pain to have migraine?
No. One-sided location is one of four pain characteristics, and only two are needed for that group. Migraine can be bilateral, especially in children and adolescents.
Why do light and sound sensitivity count together?
The ICHD-3 associated-symptom criterion uses photophobia and phonophobia together as one option. Nausea or vomiting is the other option.
What if medicine stops the attack before four hours?
The criteria refer to untreated or unsuccessfully treated duration. A headache diary can record when treatment was taken and what might have happened in previously untreated attacks.
Can migraine happen without aura?
Yes. Migraine without aura is a major migraine type, and most attacks do not require aura. Aura has its own timing and symptom criteria.
Why can the checker not diagnose migraine?
The final diagnostic requirement is that another headache disorder or medical condition does not better explain the attacks. That requires history, red-flag review, examination, and sometimes testing.
Red-Flag Checker
Check urgent warning signs first.
Headache Location Checker
Explore broader location patterns.
Aura Pattern Checker
Review neurological timing safely.
Printable Migraine Diary
Record the next attack clearly.
Private by design: all selections and calculations remain in this browser and are not sent to us.