Migraine and sound sensitivity: what to track
During an attack, everyday sound — a conversation, the television, traffic — can feel intrusive or painful. This is phonophobia, and like light sensitivity it's part of why a quiet, dark room is where so many people wait out a migraine. Logging it won't quieten your surroundings, but a dated record of when it appears and how strong it is fills in another part of the picture you bring to a clinician.
Why sound feels worse during a migraine
Sensitivity to sound sits alongside light sensitivity in ICHD-3 as one of the features used to describe a migraine attack. The American Migraine Foundation describes migraine as a state of heightened sensory processing, in which the brain amplifies ordinary input — so sounds you'd normally filter out become hard to bear. For most people it eases as the attack resolves, and it often travels together with photophobia.
What logging sound sensitivity reveals
Phonophobia can arrive early, before the headache builds, and it can affect how you function at work or with family. A dated 0–3 log shows a clinician how regularly it features and how disruptive it is, rather than leaving it as a vague 'noise gets to me'. Seeing it beside light sensitivity also shows how often the two appear together. Temple keeps this record; it doesn't interpret it for you.
What's worth recording
A 0–3 for how strong the sound sensitivity is, when it starts relative to the headache, and whether it made you avoid people or places is plenty. Logging it in the same place as your other sensory symptoms keeps the pattern honest and easy to review over months.
Temple logs sound-sensitivity severity and timing in one tap alongside light sensitivity, so the sensory picture of your attacks is clear in your appointment record.
Common questions
- Is sound sensitivity a normal part of migraine?
- Yes. ICHD-3 lists sensitivity to sound among the symptoms used to describe a migraine attack, usually alongside light sensitivity. It's an expected feature, and tracking how strongly it shows up helps a clinician understand how disabling your attacks are.
- Why do light and sound sensitivity often happen together?
- Both reflect the heightened sensory processing that comes with a migraine attack, so they commonly appear side by side. Logging them together — rather than as one blurred 'sensitivity' — gives a clearer record of what your attacks involve.