Abdominal Migraine

When someone complains of a migraine, they are usually referring to a headache that may be accompanied by neck pain, eye pain, nausea, vomiting and visual changes (aura). In some individuals, however, migraines manifest as episodic abdominal pain. Abdominal migraines are more common in children than in adults and occur most often in individuals who have a family history of migraines.

Like a migraine headache, the pain of an abdominal migraine can range from moderate to severe, and it can last anywhere from a few hours to several days. Also like its cousin, an abdominal migraine may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

Getting an accurate diagnosis is critical to obtaining effective treatment, but diagnosing an abdominal headache can be tricky because the condition shares symptoms with other medical conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease, a peptic ulcer, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). We are here to help.

How We Can Help

At the Kaplan Center, our physicians have years of experience treating patients with chronic pain conditions such as abdominal migraines, and we completely reject the notion that “you just have to live with it.”

At your first visit, your Kaplan physician will take time exploring the onset of your condition, the specific nature of your symptoms and the overall status of your health. You’ll also be asked about the medications and therapies you’ve tried in the past, and what has and hasn’t worked for you. To gather additional information about your condition, specialized diagnostic laboratory testing may be necessary.

After reviewing all of the factors contributing to your condition, your physician will spend time talking with you about your diagnosis and working with you to create a customized and multi-dimensional treatment plan that addresses not only your immediate pain but also any possible underlying or co-existing conditions that may be causing or aggravating your symptoms.

We offer a multitude of effective treatment options, including:

• Acupuncture
• Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine
• Nutritional Counseling
• Prescription Medication
• Vitamin / Magnesium Intravenous Supplementation
• Stress Management
• Sleep Evaluation / Management

Research:

Abdominal migraine: evidence for existence and treatment options, from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, Dept. of Child Health

Abdominal migraine and cyclical vomiting, from the Dept. of Gastroenterology and Clinical Nutrition, Royal Children’s Hospital, Australia