My Brain, My Pain (part 3) by Jennifer

All of the images are of original artwork that I painted myself to express the pain associated with migraines. The original art was done in acrylics on matboard.

The second phase in the migraine cycle is the pain, it can be moderate to severe in intensity. If it is a migraine- often the senses are heightened, noise is particularly irritating, lights seem much brighter, odors are more pungent, skin may be overly sensitive, and taste may be altered. Neurons are overly excited and the cascade of symptoms intensifies. Pain may be felt as sharp, stabbing, throbbing, or pressure. In migraines, the pain is typically one sided. Applying ice and taking abortive medication may be needed to quell the pain and other symptoms such as nausea. This phase can last from 2-72 hours. Some people, such as I, also suffer from allodynia- where not normally painful stimuli is experienced as painful. Brushing my hair hurts, and sometimes simply a strand of hair falling on my face is painful. The painting above depicts the overly excited neurons that are rapidly firing the pain signals.