Misunderstanding of migraine at work must end

The Migraine Trust delivers information and support sessions on migraine for employees, HR and leadership teams, working with organisations to find the best way to support employees with migraine to stay in work. Learn more and enquire about their workplace training.

What's this webinar about?

Migraine is a complex, long-term health condition and not just a headache. In this webinar you will learn more about migraine in a work context, and get employer and employee tips for managing migraine well in the workplace.

Joining Posturite for this important session for the workplace health and wellbeing community is The Migraine Trust. This charity campaigns for and empowers people affected by migraine, raises awareness of migraine, provides information and support, and funds and promotes new research.

Around 1 in 7 people get migraine, so let's banish the misunderstandings and hear the facts.

Watch this webinar to discover:

• How migraine can affect a person's ability to work and grow their career
• Common triggers of migraine – including posture
• The potential stages of a migraine attack
• Support strategies for migraine
• The strong emotions that suffering migraine can cause
• Migraine treatments
• Migraine and the Equality Act 2010
• The top 10 reasonable adjustments that people with migraine tell us help them at work

Who is this webinar for?

All are very welcome.

Date & time

Tuesday 7 July 2026, 12pm-1pm

Panellists

• Oscar Harvey, Senior Information and Support Advisor, The Migraine Trust
• Emma Curran, Support Services Advisor, The Migraine Trust
• Tom Nagle, Webinars Manager, Posturite

Your questions answered

Oscar Harvey from The Migraine Trust answers some of the audience questions that we didn't get to cover during this webinar. If you have a question of your own, visit the Migraine Trust's Get Support page where you can find details of their phone, email and live chat support.

Please note that Posturite Ltd is not responsible or liable for any information, guidance or advice provided by The Migraine Trust. Always seek medical advice for migraine from your doctor or a healthcare professional.

Do you also provide support on your website for vestibular migraines as I've had them for the last couple of years?

I'm sorry to hear that. Yes, we have lots of information on vestibular migraine. Please find further information here.

How can you tell the difference between a trigger that might cause a migraine versus something that is a symptom of the migraine? For example, sensitivity to smell.

This is a common question we receive, and it can be difficult to tell. For example, as you say, light and smells may be a trigger or a symptom, and we often hear confusion regarding foods and whether it's a premonitory craving or a trigger, and similarly with neck pain. The best approach to decipher the cause and effect is often to keep a migraine diary, noting down symptoms to help you better identify the pattern and symptoms of your attacks.

Are there any non-medication treatments that help? For example, could acupuncture or shiatsu help some people?

There are several natural approaches that can help some people with managing their migraine attacks, including supplements, acupuncture and medical devices. You can learn more in our factsheet 'non-drug treatments for migraine'.

Is there any evidence linking tinnitus with migraines and particularly auras?

Some people with migraine, particularly vestibular migraine and migraine with brainstem aura do experience tinnitus as a symptom of their migraine (and their aura). An ENT or doctor can examine your vestibular symptom to rule out any other potential causes of the tinnitus. Learn more here.

My daughter was told by her GP that she had 'stomach migraines' when she was a child. She has gone on to have migraines as an adult, but are 'stomach migraines' a real thing?

There is a type of migraine associated with stomach pain and nausea symptoms. This is known as abdominal migraine, and is quite common in children, affecting 4 in 100 children and some adults. Often children who experience abdominal migraine will grow up to develop other migraine types as an adult. You can read more about this here.

I am currently taking topiramate as a preventative, and sumatriptan to stop a migraine when it starts. My GP feels that I am taking too much sumatriptan (at least 12 each month). I'm on a waiting list to see a neurologist again after the previous neurologist said they couldn't do anything for me. My GP has suggested gepants as a change in medication – what do gepants do? What are the side effects?

It is possible that you are taking over the recommended dosage of sumatriptan, if you are using it for 12 days a month, rather than 12 tablets over the course of fewer than 10 days. Taking acute meds (painkillers/triptans) for migraine too often and for too long can lead to your headaches getting worse. You may develop more frequent and more severe headaches. This is called medication overuse headache or rebound headache. Making sure you don't regularly take acute medicines on more than two days a week will reduce the risk of this happening to you. Talk to your GP if you need more advice on managing and reducing your triptan intake.

Gepants can be considered as an acute treatment if someone has trialled two types of triptans without success or is unable to take triptans. These can help stop or shorten attacks when they occur and have less risk of medication overuse headache occurring. They can also be considered for preventive use. You can read more about these here.

How do you find out if your condition is covered under the Equality Act?

Disability is self-defined in the UK. A disability is defined by the Equality Act 2010 as a physical or mental impairment that has a 'substantial' and 'long-term' negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. Whether or not this applies to you depends on how frequent your migraine attacks are and how much of an impact they are having on your normal activities. We have more information about disability here.

Are there are resources about triggers in more detail such as a list of self-reported and less common triggers, allowing people with migraines who don't know the cause to see if they line up with their case? I have some triggers I still haven't identified.

Unfortunately it can be difficult to work out all your triggers, and some can be very hard to understand. Migraine attacks can also occur without a trigger, making it more complicated to determine. There isn't a definitive, complete list of triggers, as for people with migraine, anything can be a trigger – however we have a list of common triggers here.

If you were to have Botox for treatment, where is the Botox injected?

Botox for migraine consists of 31-39 injections into the head and neck area. This blog on our website shows the injection points. Botox for migraine is administered every 12 weeks and it is important that someone specialising in Botox for migraine administers it.

We have overhead lighting and lamps and the offer of moving to a different desk. Is it appropriate to offer glasses when we can't reduce the lighting any further?

What helps one person with managing their migraine and reducing triggers doesn't necessarily help another, so it can be trial and error finding ways to cope and reduce your migraine. Offering glasses may be appropriate and could offer some relief to a person experiencing lighting triggers in their workplace. You can find all our workplace resources here.