Lived experiences of women with chronic migraine: A phenomenological study.
- 1Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
- 2School of Health Sciences, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK.
- 3Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
Abstract
Purpose
While quantitative research has yielded valuable insights into the prevalence, triggers, and treatment efficacy of chronic migraine, the embodied experience of the condition remains underexplored. This study portrays chronic migraine as a lived bodily condition, aiming to illuminate how such disruptions are experienced in everyday life.Methods
Data were collected from eight female participants through in-depth, open-ended phenomenological interviews. The data were analyzed using Giorgi's descriptive phenomenological method.Results
The analysis revealed a unifying structure of the lived-through phenomenon comprising four key constituents: (1) sense of agency, (2) sense of bodily control, (3) sense of bodily exhaustion, and (4) sense of adaptation. Participants described recurring migraine attacks as involving disrupted sensations intertwined with a diminished sense of bodily control and agency. The persistent presence of pain and the anticipation of attacks were experienced as part of an ongoing state of vigilance and exhaustion. Participants expressed a tension between feeling unsafe and engaging in adaptive efforts to reconnect with their sense of agency and control.Conclusions
This study combines clinical relevance with phenomenological depth, emphasizing the subjective, pre-reflective, and partly unrecognized experiences of living with chronic migraine. Greater attention to bodily experience may support clinical encounters in which patients' descriptions of bodily unpredictability, exhaustion, and fluctuating agency are more fully acknowledged. From a clinical perspective, attending to such experiences, as reflecting a disruption of bodily experience, may foster more responsive and person-centered approaches to rehabilitation and care in chronic migraine.
Related
- The Lived Experiences of Long-Term Users of Copper-T Intrauterine Devices: A phenomenological Qualitative Study among women at Kawempe National Referral Hospital in Uganda
- The Lived Care Experiences of Neurorehabilitation Inpatients: A Phenomenological Qualitative Exploratory Study.
- The lived experiences of diploma nurses who did not pass their professional licensing examination on the first attempt: A qualitative phenomenological study
- Kafkaesque systems: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of lived experiences of stateless migrants within the UK
- Exploring the lived experiences of women with breast cancer across the care continuum: a systematic meta-aggregative qualitative review protocol.
BibTeX
@article{patovirta2026lived,
title = {{Lived experiences of women with chronic migraine: A phenomenological study.}},
author = {Mikko Patovirta and Kitty M Suddick and Riku Nikander and Marja-Liisa Sumelahti and Pirjo Vuoskoski},
journal = {Qualitative research in medicine \& healthcare},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100051},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921074},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Lived experiences of women with chronic migraine: A phenomenological study.
AU - Mikko Patovirta
AU - Kitty M Suddick
AU - Riku Nikander
AU - Marja-Liisa Sumelahti
AU - Pirjo Vuoskoski
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - Qualitative research in medicine & healthcare
DO - 10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100051
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921074
AB - Purpose While quantitative research has yielded valuable insights into the prevalence, triggers, and treatment efficacy of chronic migraine, the embodied experience of the condition remains underexplored. This study portrays chronic migraine as a lived bodily condition, aiming to illuminate how such disruptions are experienced in everyday life.Methods Data were collected from eight female participants through in-depth, open-ended phenomenological interviews. The data were analyzed using Giorgi's descriptive phenomenological method.Results The analysis revealed a unifying structure of the lived-through phenomenon comprising four key constituents: (1) sense of agency, (2) sense of bodily control, (3) sense of bodily exhaustion, and (4) sense of adaptation. Participants described recurring migraine attacks as involving disrupted sensations intertwined with a diminished sense of bodily control and agency. The persistent presence of pain and the anticipation of attacks were experienced as part of an ongoing state of vigilance and exhaustion. Participants expressed a tension between feeling unsafe and engaging in adaptive efforts to reconnect with their sense of agency and control.Conclusions This study combines clinical relevance with phenomenological depth, emphasizing the subjective, pre-reflective, and partly unrecognized experiences of living with chronic migraine. Greater attention to bodily experience may support clinical encounters in which patients' descriptions of bodily unpredictability, exhaustion, and fluctuating agency are more fully acknowledged. From a clinical perspective, attending to such experiences, as reflecting a disruption of bodily experience, may foster more responsive and person-centered approaches to rehabilitation and care in chronic migraine.
SN - 2532-2044
ER -