Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Feb;27(2):111-7.
doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2982.2006.01255.x.

Identifying cutaneous allodynia in chronic migraine using a practical clinical method

A Ashkenazi  1 , M Sholtzow, J W Shaw, R Burstein, W B Young
Affiliations

Identifying cutaneous allodynia in chronic migraine using a practical clinical method

A Ashkenazi et al. Cephalalgia. 2007 Feb.

Abstract

Cutaneous allodynia is common in migraine. In the majority of previous studies on allodynia in migraine, only patients with episodic migraine (EM) were included. Little is known on patterns of allodynia in chronic migraine (CM). Since the presence of allodynia is associated with a poor response to triptans, a clinically practical method to test migraine patients for allodynia would be useful to the clinician. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of dynamic mechanical (brush) allodynia (BA) in CM, using a clinically practical method. Eighty-nine CM patients were prospectively recruited. Patients were given a structured questionnaire regarding demographic data and migraine characteristics. Allodynia was tested using a 10 x 10-cm gauze pad to brush various areas of the skin lightly. The prevalence of BA in the entire study population and in different patient subgroups was calculated. BA was present in 42.7% (38/89) of the patients. The presence of allodynia was unrelated to age, disease duration or to the occurrence of an acute headache exacerbation at the time of testing. Allodynia was positively associated with a history of migraine aura. BA was most common in the cephalic area, but was also seen in cervical dermatomes. BA is common in CM and, unlike in EM, is not significantly affected by the occurrence of an acute headache exacerbation. This suggests that central trigeminovascular neurons are chronically sensitized in patients experiencing migraine headache >15 days per month. The testing of BA in the clinical setting is possible using a simple and brief approach. It allows the clinician to determine whether the patient is sensitized, a diagnosis that affects treatment decisions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Allodynia prevalence in the entire study population and in the different patient subgroups.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlation between total allodynia score and current headache pain rating.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Willis WD. Role of neurotransmitters in sensitization of pain responses. Ann NY Acad Sci. 2001;933:142–56. - PubMed
    1. Tfelt-Hansen P, Lous I, Olesen J. Prevalence and significance of muscle tenderness during common migraine attacks. Headache. 1981;21:49–54. - PubMed
    1. Drummond PD. Scalp tenderness and sensitivity to pain in migraine and tension headache. Headache. 1987;27:45–50. - PubMed
    1. Selby G, Lance JW. Observation on 500 cases of migraine and allied vascular headaches. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1960;23:23–32. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Burstein R, Yarnitsky D, Goor-Aryeh I, Ransil BJ, Bajwa ZH. An association between migraine and cutaneous allodynia. Ann Neurol. 2000;47:614–24. - PubMed