EmberMigraine days
What counts as a migraine day?
In Ember, it’s a day with head pain and 2 or more migraine features, or symptoms that limit your day. Researchers haven’t settled on one definition yet.
Try it
Log a day and see how it counts.
The result uses the same rules as the app.
Every classification follows fixed rules built on ICHD-3 criteria. No AI guesses, no black box.
Any head pain today?
Symptoms
Impact
Migraine day
2 migraine features → Migraine day
- Nausea
- Neck pain
Day types
Every day is one of four types.
- Migraine day
- Head pain with two or more migraine features, symptoms without head pain that limit activity, or a migraine-specific medication logged when pain or symptoms are present.
- Headache day
- Head pain that doesn’t meet migraine criteria.
- Symptom day
- Symptoms without head pain or significant impact.
- Clear day
- No pain, no symptoms.
Migraine features
What counts as a migraine feature.
Each feature counts once, and nausea and vomiting count together as one. Brain fog and fatigue are tracked but don’t count.
What counts as a migraine feature
- Moderate or severe head pain
- Functional limitation
- Light sensitivity
- Sound sensitivity
- Aura
- Smell sensitivity
- Neck pain
- Dizziness
- Nausea or vomiting
Tracked but not counted as features
- Brain fog
- Fatigue
Medicine
A migraine medicine can make it a migraine day.
Logging a migraine-specific medicine on a day with pain or symptoms makes it a migraine day. General pain relievers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen don’t count on their own, because they treat many conditions.
Examples
- Imitrex
- Maxalt
- Zomig
- Relpax
- Ubrelvy
- Nurtec ODT
- Zavzpret
- Migranal
- Trudhesa
Research
Researchers are still agreeing on a definition.
Trials of newer migraine preventives used 12 different definitions of a migraine day. A 2026 expert consensus proposed one for the next edition of ICHD.2
It uses how long the headache lasted. Ember doesn’t ask, so its rules leave duration out.
| Situation | 2026 consensus | Ember |
|---|---|---|
| Head pain, no medicine | 4+ hours, with migraine features | Any length, with 2+ migraine features |
| Head pain, treated | 30+ minutes, any medicine | A migraine medicine, with pain or symptoms |
| Aura | Counts on its own | Counts as one feature |
| Symptoms, no head pain | Not included | Counts when they limit your day |
Sources
- Headache Classification Committee of the International Headache Society. The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition. Cephalalgia. 2018;38(1):1–211. ichd-3.org/
- De Loose L, Paemeleire K, Deligianni CI, et al. What’s a migraine day? Towards a consensus definition for clinical care and research – a Delphi panel-based study. J Headache Pain. 2026;27:135. doi.org/10.1186/s10194-026-02383-2
- Ailani J, Burch RC, Robbins MS. The American Headache Society Consensus Statement: Update on integrating new migraine treatments into clinical practice. Headache. 2021;61(7):1021–1039. doi.org/10.1111/head.14153
Reviewed by a practicing headache specialist, October 17, 2026.
Ember counts your migraine days for you.
Log a day in 10 to 20 seconds. Free on iPhone and Android.
