HEADACHES
ABOUT HEADACHES
Headache is a term used to describe aching or pain that occurs in one or more areas of the head, face, mouth, or neck. Headache can be chronic, recurrent, or occasional. The pain can be mild, or severe enough to disrupt daily activities. Headache involves the network of nerve fibers in the tissues, muscles, and blood vessels located in the head and at the base of the skull.
TYPES OF HEADACHES
Primary headache accounts for about 90% of all headaches. There are three types of primary headache: tension headache, cluster headache, and migraine.
- Tension headache is the most common type of primary headache.
The typical tension headache is one that produces a dull, steady, achy pain on both sides of the head.
The pain usually begins gradually and increases steadily over a period of hours, but it rarely becomes overwhelming and physically debilitating. Tension headaches are caused by stress, muscular tension, vascular dilation, postural changes, protracted coughing or sneezing, and fever.
- Cluster headaches occur in an episode—or cluster—that may occur daily over a period of weeks, sometimes even months. They may then disappear, only to recur seasonally the following year. The pain of cluster headaches usually is centered around one eye, and is almost always on one side of the head. The pain is excruciating for most people, often described as a knife or nail being driven into the head. Precisely what causes cluster headaches is unknown, but the condition has several well-recognized triggers, including alcohol, particularly if a person is going through a cluster period.
- Migraine is a throbbing or pulsating headache that is often one sided (unilateral) and associated with nausea; vomiting; sensitivity to light, sound, and smells; sleep disruption; and depression. Attacks are often recurrent and tend to become less severe as the migraine sufferer ages.
The cause of migraine is unknown.
There is often a family history of the disorder, suggesting that migraine sufferers may inherit sensitivity to triggers that produce inflammation in the blood vessels and nerves around the brain, causing pain.
Secondary headache is associated with an underlying condition such as head trauma, infection, and metabolic disorder (e.g., diabetes, thyroid disease). Head pain can also result from syndromes involving the eyes, ears, neck, teeth, or sinuses. In these cases, the underlying condition must be diagnosed and treated.
Severe, sudden, and debilitating secondary headache that develops after a blow to the head, that interferes with normal activity, or that accompanies other symptoms (e.g., convulsions, disorientation, dizziness, loss of consciousness, pain in the eye or ear, fever) should be evaluated by a physician as soon as possible. Source: Neurology Channel
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