---
title: How common are menstrual migraines in teenage girls? | Niyora
description: About half of teenage girls who have started their period experience headaches around the time of menstruation. The pattern appears during adolescence and sta
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/menstrual-migraine-in-adolescents-2009/
---

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- How common are menstrual migraines in teenage girls?

Cohort study, 2009

# How common are menstrual migraines in teenage girls?

About half of teenage girls who have started their period experience headaches around the time of menstruation. The pattern appears during adolescence and stays consistent once established.

 Early or limited evidence

896 girls aged 9 to 18 years

## What they did

Retrospective review of medical records from 896 girls aged 9 to 18 years. Researchers looked at their headache patterns and whether headaches were associated with their menstrual period based on patient and parent reports.

## What they found

Of 896 girls, 331 (50.3% of girls who had started menstruating and 36.9% of all girls) reported experiencing headaches with their menstrual period. Of those with a menstrual pattern, 63.6% reported migraines occurring between 2 days before and 3 days after period start. Interestingly, 160 girls reported monthly headache patterns even before they started menstruating.

## What it means for you

Menstrual headaches and migraines are common in adolescent girls. Once the pattern develops, it tends to be stable. Early identification may help with long-term treatment planning. However, this study relied on patient and parent recall of past events and was not prospective, so the findings may not be completely accurate.

896

Girls reviewed

50.3%

Of menarchal girls with menstrual headaches

63.6%

Whose migraines occurred days -2 to +3

## About the study

Original title Menstrual migraine in adolescents Authors Crawford MJ, Lehman L, Slater S et al. Journal Headache Year 2009 Study design Cohort study Participants 896 What was tested None Read the paper [doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2009.01347.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2009.01347.x)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Migraine](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-migraine/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)

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