International Classification of Headache Disorders

So what exactly is a silent migraine? So a silent migraine is a popular term rather than the preferred medical term.

What people usually mean by it is a migraine aura without headache, and the International Classification of Headache Disorders, the third edition, recognizes a condition called typical aura without headache.

Now, in this condition, a person develops the neurological symptoms characteristic of a typical migraine aura, but no headache accompanies the aura or follows it within the next hour.

And look, I really want to acknowledge the word typical here, as nothing feels quite typical in that quite scary experience.

Well...

The International Classification of Headache Disorders is a huge thing.

It's over 200 pages and there are goodness knows how many different headache types and subtypes and sub-subtypes listed in it.

But I think the most important differentiation is between so-called primary headaches and secondary headaches.