Once your provider has taken your medical history, examined your headache diary, completed the physical and neurological exam, and received the results of any lab or neuroimaging tests, she should have the data needed to make at least a tentative diagnosis of your head pain.

Doctors experienced with headache care are familiar with the International Headache Society diagnostic criteria for migraine, discussed in more detail in Chapter 1. If a patient fits either of the sets of diagnostic criteria and has a normal neurological exam and no other risk factors, but has not yet had five headache episodes, the patient is typically diagnosed with “probable” migraine or migraine with aura.