Battling migraines and severe headaches is a constant struggle. However, for Black migraine patients, disparities in the healthcare system add another layer of roadblocks.
Like most aspects of the healthcare system, racism plays a role in migraine care. A study concluded that Black men are far less likely to receive headache treatment and Black patients are 25% less likely to get a migraine diagnosis. This occurs regardless of the fact that white, Black, and Hispanic patients – around 15% – suffer from headaches and migraines. These might seem like just numbers, but disparities cause real impact for Black patients. Delays or refusal of diagnosis results in lack of treatment, causing more headaches over a period of time and usually more severe.
Although these statistics seem discouraging, patients can gain back agency through self-advocacy. While long-term change requires more macro cultural shifts, patients can influence their own healthcare journey on a microscale. The most important step in doing so is communicating effectively with your healthcare provider and clearly stating what you need.
One way you can start a conversation with your healthcare provider is by walking through your symptoms and triggers. Take notes of when you tend to get migraines. Do migraines typically occur at a certain time of the day or after eating certain foods? Keep a food diary for a few weeks – track what you eat and how you feel afterwards. If you notice that certain types of weather affect you, take note and discuss it with your doctor.
An additional way to advocate for yourself is to discuss certain types of tests or scans that can be done. Do your own research and ask other migraine sufferers what has worked for them. If you talk with your doctor and they deny a test, request that they mark in your chart that they denied the test. This keeps a record of conversations between yourself and your healthcare provider.
However, the most impactful change for Black and POC patients will have to come from a macroscale. A complete cultural shift within the field of medicine will be needed to overcome these disparities. The consensus within the medical community is to focus on welcoming more physicians from underrepresented communities to the field of medicine. These medical students and professionals may be able to better reflect the needs and interests of Black and POC patients. The idea is that most of the biases towards Black and POC patients currently observed in healthcare providers could be mitigated if physicians come from these same communities.
Another remedy is to provide adequate education to all physicians on how to address their unconscious biases. Simply providing awareness to unconscious biases is the first step in overcoming them. These biases are typically underlying in society in ways that are not obvious or part of learned behavior.
For Black and POC patients, dealing with migraines is more than just obtaining a diagnosis and descriptions. Due to medical racism, there are extra hurdles to getting rid of severe headaches and migraines. One way patients can fight back is to advocate for themselves and maintain open communication with their healthcare physicians. Take back your healthcare journey and be an informed partner in your care.
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