This is a very interesting article. Although I find the sample size to be small. It will be wonderful if a similar study is conducted in other institutions and see if results will be same or different. For those patients whose migraine is triggered by the odor of the disinfectant used, I wonder if it will be helpful if they switched to an odorless alternative?

I have seen this in my practice as well.

Key Points
• Source: Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice
• Conclusion/Relevance: “In conclusion, long-term pandemic obligations adversely affect patients with migraine. Scalp contact masks, double mask use, and long-term use of masks can cause an increase in migraine frequency and severity. Also, intensive disinfectant exposure is another factor that has worsened migraine during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, migraine patients should be directed to use optimal protection methods in terms of mask type, the number of masks, and disinfectant usage frequency, taking into account their working and social life conditions, rather than exaggerated protection methods. Considering that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to have an impact in the coming years, a personalized optimal protection approach may increase the quality of life and economic efficiency of migraine sufferers, who constitute a substantial patient population.”
• The investigators examined the impact of mask and disinfectant use in 310 migraine patients. They found migraine worsening in 57.1% of patients, stable course in 31% of patients, and improvement in 11.9% of patients.
• In patients whose migraine was triggered by odor, migraine worsening was more common.
• Pungent disinfectant use was a cause of migraine worsening, as well as depression and status as a healthcare worker.
• A limitation of the current study was that most of the patients did not keep a regular migraine diary, and responses were based on memory. Another limitation was the increased number of women in the study, which could limit generalizability to men.