Migraine Severity and Burden Checker
Answer 6 questions to organize attack intensity, duration, frequency, symptoms, and functional burden
How to use this checker
Answer each domain based on your usual migraine or headache pattern. This tool summarizes burden across domains, but it does not produce a validated clinical score.
What this tool is for
Use it to organize symptom burden and frequency before a visit or before starting more formal tracking. Use HIT-6 or MIDAS when you need a validated measure.
How would you rate your headache pain intensity at its worst?
How long does your typical untreated or unsuccessfully treated attack last?
How many headache days do you usually have in a typical month?
How much nausea or vomiting do you get with attacks?
How sensitive are you to light and/or sound during attacks?
How much do headaches disrupt work, home tasks, study, or social life?
Recent saved burden summaries
Saved burden summaries are synced to your account and also appear in your dashboard.
What This Checker Is For
Migraine severity varies significantly between individuals and even between attacks for the same person. People often want one simple answer to “how bad are my migraines?”, but in practice clinicians look across several dimensions: attack intensity, duration, monthly frequency, associated symptoms, and how much normal life is interrupted.
This checker summarizes those domains in one place. It is intentionally not presented as a validated score. If you need a standardized measure, use HIT-6 or MIDAS alongside it.
When to See a Doctor About Headache Severity
Seek medical attention if you experience any of the following:
- A new, sudden, severe headache unlike any previous headache
- Headaches that progressively worsen over weeks or months
- Headaches accompanied by fever, stiff neck, confusion, or vision changes
- Headaches that significantly interfere with work, sleep, or daily activities
- Needing pain medication more than twice a week
Related Migraine Assessment Tools
Validated clinical tool measuring migraine disability over 3 months.
Measures the broader impact of headaches on daily functioning.
Build a practical migraine trigger profile and choose what to track next.
Compare your symptom pattern with migraine criteria and a short migraine screener.
Track severity over time with structured diary templates for paper or digital use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this calculator a validated clinical tool?
No. It is an educational burden summary, not a validated clinical score. For standardized measurement, use the MIDAS or HIT-6 questionnaires as well.
How is migraine severity different from headache frequency?
Severity measures the intensity, symptoms, and functional impact of individual attacks. Frequency measures how often attacks occur. Both are important — you can have infrequent but severely disabling attacks, or frequent mild ones.
What does a chronic-range frequency flag mean?
Reporting 15 or more headache days per month is a chronic-range frequency flag that deserves clinician review. It does not diagnose chronic migraine by itself.
Medical Disclaimer: This route provides an educational burden summary and does not replace clinical evaluation. It should be interpreted alongside a diary, validated tools such as HIT-6 or MIDAS, and discussion with a healthcare professional.
Learn More from Our Blog
What Causes Migraines? Neuroscience Explained
Understand the neurological mechanisms behind migraine severity and triggers.
Migraine vs Headache: How to Tell the Difference
Learn to distinguish migraines from other headache types based on severity and symptoms.
When to See a Neurologist About Migraines
Know when severe migraines warrant specialist care.
References
- Headache Classification Committee of the IHS (2018). The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition. Cephalalgia. 38(1):1-211.Link
- Ailani J, Burch RC, Robbins MS (2021). The American Headache Society consensus statement: update on integrating new migraine treatments into clinical practice. Headache. 61(7):1021-1039.Link
- Ashina M (2020). Migraine. New England Journal of Medicine. 383:1866-1876.Link