When Will I Get an MRI to Find Out What is Causing My Headaches
A doctor might order an MRI for you when you have headaches every day or nearly every day or if your doctor ordered a CT scan and the results are not definitive if your headaches are associated with a new set of symptoms, or if your doctor is concerned you may have a structural issue causing the headaches.
MRI scans can visualize regions of the brain that may be hard to discern from the benchmarked view of CT scanning, which include the cervical spine and posterior fossa region of the brain. An MRI cannot diagnose migraines or cluster headaches or tension type headaches; however, an MRI may be useful to doctors on excluding other medical disorders that may present with headaches, including:
Is It Safe
People that have an implanted medical device need to ensure it is MR Safe. An MR Safe device is one that is not magnetic, does not have any metal, does not conduct electricity, and does not pose any other hazards.
The scan will be safe for those who have had heart surgery and for those in possession of the following medical devices. But it is very important you check with your doctor prior to having an MRI to ensure you can safely have an MRI with the following medical devices:
Surgical clips or sutures
Artificial joints
Staples
Cardiac Valve replacements (except the Starr-Edwards metallic ball/cage)
Vena Cava filters
Brain shunt tubes for hydrocephalus
Migraine
Migraine is a very common disorder of primary headache, affecting more women than men and usually beginning between the ages of 20 and 30. Pain is worsened with routine activity. Many patients stop routine activity, as patients often feel that they need to be at rest. Autonomic features such as nausea and/or vomiting, photophobia and phonophobia usually occur with a migraine attack.
The Role of MRI in Diagnosing Headaches and Migraines
Diagnostic imaging like MRI is typically not required to diagnose migraine, but it can be helpful in certain situations – particularly when there are red flags present or atypical features of the headache.
Are you required to get a brain imaging scan for your headache pain
The doctor may feel pressured by the patient to get a scan or practice defensive medicine and order a scan anyway.
Role of MRI in Diagnosing Headaches and Migraine:
Excluding Differential Diagnoses:
An MRI can help identify structural problems within the brain or surrounding tissues that are responsible for Some features of a headache should raise suspicion for If a migraine is associated with some unusual symptoms, such as a prolonged aura, paralysis, or dizziness, MRI may help determine if there is an underlying neurological pathology.
When is an MRI indicated for Headaches
When the headaches are severe or occur suddenly – this could mean you have an underlying, serious condition such as stroke or hemorrhage.
When there are neurological deficits – consider headaches with vision changes, weakness, numbness, or difficulty speaking.
Conclusion
MRI is important for assessing headaches and migraines for the exclusion of secondary causes as well as important serious underlying pathologies like tumors, vascular abnormalities, and structural lesions in the brain. MRI is not necessary for diagnosing primary headache disorders like migraine based on clinical features alone, but MRI is imperative for ruling out potential causes in the presence of “red flags” and atypical features. Other MRI techniques can detect subtle brain changes associated with migraine; however these aren’t yet specific, diagnostic, nor reliable on their own. Overall, MRI has a very important supportive role of ruling out other causes and keeping patients safe, but it is not a dominant part of assessing migraine, headache and common headache disorders overall.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is the role of MRI in migraine?
MRI scans alone cannot definitively diagnose migraine, but can exclude other possible causes of symptoms that either share overlap or resemble those of migraine, and may reveal structural changes related to migraine.
Q. How does MRI detect the cause of headaches?
MRI is rarely needed for primary headaches but is needed when headaches are sudden, severe, and new; arise and continue in a new pattern; new neurological symptoms develop; or continue after previously effective treatment.
Q. What is the MRI brain migraine protocol?
For migraine patients, a standard MRI brain scan is performed using a simple protocol designed to give an adequate overview of the brain’s structure.
Q. What is a functional MRI of migraine?
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a type of neuroimaging method to study activity in the brain by measuring blood flow changes and has been used within the area of migraine research.
Q. What is a migraine vs. headache?
A migraine is a significant neurological disorder often associated with moderate to severe headache symptoms, nausea and vomiting, as well as photophobia and phonophobia. Headache is a very general term to refer to a pain localized in the head. A migraine is a specific form of headache with specific characteristics, and has the potential for other more severe symptoms.
