It's difficult to explain what a migraine is like to somebody who has never suffered one.
Sydneysider Carl Cincinnato, co-organiser of this week's Migraine World Summit, likens it to "the worst hangover you've ever had".
![Carl Cincinnato has gathered dozens of international experts to speak at the free online Migraine World Summit.](/web/20170425050800im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/q/a/b/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gvq9ea.png/1492844470586.jpg)
"You feel like you're going to vomit, the world is spinning around you, light hurts, sound hurts. And then Babe Ruth takes a baseball bat to your head".
For years Mr Cincinnato battled chronic migraine, with up to six attacks a week. He now experiences around six migraines a year, saying educating himself about his condition and learning from others were key to his improvement - one of the reasons he founded the MigrainePal blog to share information, resources and support.
Mr Cincinnato said the "skull-crushing" pain of migraine headache was intense, but so was the "psychological torment" of chronic migraine. The neurological disorder can strike at any time, leaving people debilitated for days and derailing their working, family and social lives.
"It's a perfectly evil disease," he said.
The Migraine World Summit, provided free online, brings together 36 international experts, doctors and specialists to discuss treatments, the latest research and the challenges of living with migraine.
"A lot of people feel they've tried everything they can," Mr Cincinnato said. "We want to show them that there's hundreds of options out there. There are new treatments coming, there's a lot of research under way."
More than three million Australians suffer from migraine, costing an estimated $1 billion per year.
The frequency and severity of attacks can vary greatly patient to patient. Some might experience a migraine with aura - or visual disturbance - with no headache, while others have debilitating, unrelenting headaches. Attacks can last as long as three days.
The latest Global Burden of Disease Study found migraine - suffered by a billion people worldwide - was the sixth-highest cause worldwide of years lost due to disability, with headache disorders collectively the third highest.
Mr Cincinnato said it was an area of health that was underfunded and poorly managed, with many patients under-diagnosed.
"It needs a global community to increase funding, reduce stigma, to get more doctors better educated about the disorder," he said.
The summit is being run with the help of The Brain Foundation, the Australian charity dedicated to funding research into neurological disorders, brain disease and brain injuries.
Chief executive Gerald Edmunds said although up to 15 per cent of the population suffered from migraines "there's not too much money available for research".
Headache Australia, an initiative of the Brain Foundation, is building a National Headache Register to keep patients informed about research, developments and resources, and give them the opportunity to participate in research themselves.
The Migraine World Summit runs from April 23 to 29 and begins at 11pm AEST on Sunday.