June — Migraine Awareness Month 🇨🇦
1.16
BILLION

People on this planet live with migraine.
Right now. Today. Including people you know.

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The Scale
Numbers That
Don't Lie
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Migraine is the 3rd most common disease in the world — behind only tooth decay and tension headaches. Yet it receives a fraction of the research funding of diseases with far lower prevalence.
WHO / Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
🇨🇦 Canada | 🇺🇸 United States | No flag = Global
0M+
🇨🇦 Over 4 million Canadians live with migraine — roughly 1 in 8. Half are estimated to be undiagnosed by a physician.
Statistics Canada / Migraine Canada 2025
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🇺🇸 39 million Americans have migraine — roughly 1 in 6. Combined, that is over 43 million North Americans.
American Migraine Foundation / migraine.com
$0B
🇨🇦 $14.6 billion lost annually to the Canadian economy — 429 million hours of lost productivity driven by missed work, early departures, and reduced performance.
Leger Healthcare / Migraine Canada, 2025
$0B
🇺🇸 $78 billion total annual burden to the US economy when healthcare costs are included alongside lost productivity.
Migraine Science Collaborative, 2025
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Migraine sufferers cannot work or perform daily activities during an attack. In Canada, 36% miss at least one workday every three months.
migraine.com / Statistics Canada
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Increase in global migraine prevalence since 1990. It is getting worse. A single attack can last up to 72 hours — three full days.
GBD 2021 / Springer Nature, 2024
The Reality
The Pain
Scale

Most people think migraine is "just a bad headache." Here's what the pain scale actually looks like — and where migraine sits on it.

What Actually Happens
A Migraine Is
Four Attacks in One

Most people think migraines begin when the pain starts. They're already hours — sometimes days — into the attack. Click each phase.

A Personal Measure
Thirty
Years
"Thirty years of migraine means thirty years of cancelled plans, rescheduled deadlines, apologizing for something that isn't your fault — and waking up the next day and doing it all again."

These estimates are based on a conservative average of 2 migraines per month across 30 years. Many sufferers experience far more. Chronic migraine is defined as 15+ migraine days per month.

Demographics
Who It
Hits

By Gender

Women
75%
Men
25%

Women are 3× more likely to suffer from migraine — largely due to hormonal triggers. Yet men who suffer are statistically more likely to be underdiagnosed and undertreated.

Peak Age of Onset

25–55 yrs
85%
Under 25
10%
Over 55
5%

Migraine strikes hardest during peak productive years. It doesn't just take days — it takes careers, relationships, and opportunities.

The Treatment Gap
Most Sufferers
Get Nothing

Despite being the 6th most disabling disease in the world, migraine is dramatically undertreated — in Canada and the US alike. In Canada, only half of sufferers have ever received a formal diagnosis. Here's where the system fails.

🧠
Prodrome Fog
Mood changes, food cravings, fatigue — 24–48 hours before pain. Invisible to everyone else but very real to the sufferer.
👁️
Aura
Visual disturbances, numbness, speech disruption. Only 25% of sufferers experience it — often dismissed as anxiety or a "weird feeling."
🌡️
Allodynia
During an attack, even light touch — a breeze, a pillow — becomes physically painful. This is why sufferers "just need to lie in the dark."
🌫️
The Hangover
After the headache ends, postdrome can last 1–2 days: exhaustion, cognitive fog, body aches. You're back at work. The migraine isn't over.
😶
Stigma
"Can't you just take some Advil?" — The most isolating part. 50% of migraine sufferers also have anxiety. 25% have depression.
📅
Anticipatory Dread
Planning a life around a condition that strikes without warning. Every commitment comes with a silent asterisk: *if I'm not in an attack.
You Know
Someone Who
Has This.

1 in 8 Canadians. 1 in 6 Americans. Your colleague who "works from home sometimes." Your friend who cancels plans. The person who always sits away from windows. This is why awareness matters.