Symptom 9. Sensitivity to Touch: Allodynia and Migraines
Among the various oddities that migraines bring along, one of the most baffling is allodynia – where normal touch sensations become painful. Suddenly, everyday sensations – the feeling of your hair brushing against your skin, the gentle pressure of your glasses on your nose, the weight of a necklace around your neck – all become sources of discomfort or even intense pain.
Visualize this scenario: A soft feather gently brushes against your skin, but instead of the usual ticklish sensation, it feels like a burning streak. The light touch of your shirt collar feels like sandpaper scraping against your skin. The world of touch has turned hostile, and even the gentlest contact feels like an assault.
Allodynia underscores the dramatic changes in the sensory processing that occur during a migraine. When a migraine attack is underway, the threshold for pain is lowered significantly, leading to an exaggerated response to stimuli that are normally painless. It’s an odd and often uncomfortable phenomenon that can compound the discomfort during a migraine.
The presence of allodynia during a migraine attack further amplifies the disability caused by this condition. The avoidance of potentially painful stimuli can limit normal activities and disrupt daily life, contributing to the overall burden of the disease.
Allodynia is yet another complex aspect of migraines that highlights the intricacies of this neurological disorder. It’s a reminder of the wide-ranging and multi-sensory impact of a migraine, affecting not just how we feel pain, but also how we perceive the world around us. (9)
