I am on day three of a major headache, but there are things to do so I go on with my day as best I can. it got me thinking on how to visually convey the experience of pain. I remember long ago going to a new doctor. They gave me a sheet with on outline of a human body front and back and instructed me to draw my pain. I took the task seriously and used different colors and textures to represent the different types of pain sensations in various parts of my body. The end result looked like a piece of art and I thought that I finally found a way to convey my experience. Unfortunately I was immediately dismissed since someone so young couldn’t possibly be in that much pain.

The painting I share today is a visual representation of the aura of my migraines. When I am in a cycle I go from one migraine to the next sometimes the full gamut and sometimes just the aura. It is an exhausting experience both physically and emotionally.

Have you ever tried to express your pain through a visual representation?