The history of headaches and the persistent battle against them

A table with a bunch of over-the-counter painkillers for headaches. Most of you who read this story are probably quite familiar with these boxes and their contents. Some of you may even use these pills regularly against toothache, against fever, but most likely against headaches. We all know it: that pulsing, beating sensation which never seems to stay away for quite long enough. Some may even suffer from migraines - the upgraded and extended version of day-to-day headaches which regularly plague the lives of one in six women and one in twelve men worldwide.L.J. Stovner, et al., ‘The global prevalence of headache: an update, with an analysis of the influences of methodological factors on prevalence estimates’, The Journal of Headache and Pain, 23:34 (2022), 5.

All of these medicines are mine, and I use them daily to relieve myself of recurring headaches and migraines. My name is Joëlle, I’m 22 years old and a third-year History student of Leiden University. Even though the war I’m fighting against my headaches feels lonely sometimes, I know I’m not in this alone. This is the story about the age-old battle against migraines lots of us are fighting to this day. The objects depicted tell us a lot about their owners and the overall history of headaches.