Describe your pain

I know this may sound like a naive question but since my migraines started in 1980 I have mostly dealt with aura symptoms - lowered level of consciousness, aphasia, numbness etc... Pain was not a major symptom. However for the last few years pain has become more of a dominant symptom. My pain is mostly in my scalp and I think it is the temporal artery that is angry and it feels better (kind of releases) if I have someone do a vigorous scalp massage on the side of my head where the pain is.

I have always assumed that this is migraine pain but maybe I am wrong. Can you please share with my what type of pain you have, where it is located and what helps meliorate it? Thank you so much!

My pain is on the left side of my head 90% of the time. It's worst right above my eyebrow, going to the outside and beside my eye, and right below my eye along my cheekbone. It can also be behind my ear sort of vertically up my head and down to my neck. It feels as if it's just under the skin.

Sometimes, it pulses with my heartbeat but that's usually only if I've eaten food coloring. Otherwise, it usually comes in waves. I'll feel as if it's gone or almost gone for a minute and then it'll be back worse than ever for a few minutes, until it lifts again.

If I have someone squeeze the sides of my head, the pain goes away for a minute or two. A massage can help it as well, but it just comes right back.

My pain is always over my right eye and temple.  Sometimes also behind my right eye.  I get a very tight neck on the right side.  The pain is deep, I always say I can pinpoint the exact part of my brain that hurts.  It's  gripping, pounding pain.  After the "main headache" leaves, I get pinching pains all over the area and around my forehead and top of head like someone  in pinching small areas with pliers.  Then my scalp feels "shrunken" for a few days.  Sometimes I swear the pain is localized to the "inner shell" of my skull... It's that specific. At the moment, nothing makes it go away, but vigorous scalp massage, pulling my hair (controlled), and upper trapezius pressure point therapy helps me get very temporary relief. I also squeeze my eyebrow (right side).

The quality of the pain is not what characterizes migraine, but rather the chronic nature of the headaches. I know migraineurs who say they get five different types of HA. Bilateral, unilateral, pulsating, constant, knife-like, dull -- you name it, someone's got migraine pain of that description.

My migraines cover the eyes, forehead and temples, including inside my head. It's a constant pain that feels like pressure pushing out. Not to be dramatic, but like my head is exploding. Every HA I've ever had (and I've had thousands) has been exactly the same, the only variable being the intensity.

I understand the "inside the head" feeling, Platypus. I swear I can feel the INNER lining of my skull sometimes.

The back of the eyeballs pain is constant. Other areas are the left side of head, sometimes eyebrow area(I use to have it around the whole sinus area and forehead), back of the head and all over.

Forgot to add, sometimes it is a dull pain and other times it is an explosive pain.