Headache Types

Headache Types and Headache Pain ...

There are many different causes of headache pain and the pain varies in intensity, location, and duration with different types of headache.

Different headache types cause pain that is sharp, dull, constant, intermittent, or pounding.

Additional symptoms may accompany the headache, such as dizziness, numbness or weakness, changes in vision, difficulty with balance, eye, ear or cold symptoms and even fever

All the above factors help determine the headache type and whether or not it requires emergency treatment.

But ultimately, the cause and type of the headache determines the best course of treatment.

Any Headache type can affect anyone

Of any race, socioeconomic status, age or gender. Stress and anxiety are reported to trigger many peoples headaches, but others find no apparent reason for theirs.

• The most common headache types are known as the tension-type, with migraine the next most common
• A mild headache is often a tension-type headache or a mix of tension-type and migraine
• Your headache is caused by irritation or injury to the pain-sensing structures of your head.

The structures that can sense pain include the scalp, the muscles of the neck and head, major arteries and veins in the head, the sinuses, and the tissues that surround the brain. Headache may occur when these structures suffer compression, spasm, tension, inflammation, or irritation. The brain has no nerve endings so the brain itself cannot feel pain.

Common headache types ...

The tension-type headache, is thought to be the most common headache type ...

• It occurs more often in women than in men
• Attacks can be occasional or more frequent
• Common contributors include stress, diet, posture and over 300 different medical conditions
• Symptoms include tight, or pressing, mild to moderate head pain, which may be on both sides of the head.

Migraine is the second most common headache type ... These are classified according to whether or not they include an aura, which is a visual disturbance, weakness, or numbness that occurs 1-2 hours before the onset of the headache.

• Migraines with an aura are called classic, while those without are called common
• Migraine is more common in women than men
• It is often one-sided, throbbing and of moderate to severe intensity
• A migraine headache may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light.

A Cluster headache is a less common headache type but can be more painfiul than a migraine

• Cluster headaches occur in men more often than women
• With a cluster headache, there is intense pain that is generally on one side around the eye or temple.
• A bloodshot eye, tearing, runny nose, eyelid drooping or swelling on the side of the face may occur.
• Headaches tend to occur in clusters, sometimes daily or every few days over weeks to months.
• After a cluster of headaches, there may be long symptom-free periods before another cluster occurs.

Research Into Headache Types

Research into the mechanisms of various headache types continues, and new theories arise frequently. Specifically, the causes of the mild tension-type headache are not completely understood and vigorous debate continues. A common theory involves nerve endings in the head that are irritated by tight muscles in the neck, face, and scalp, along with irritation to the arteries and veins nearby.

The events that trigger mild headache vary widely among people who get headaches and each person seems to have his or her own pattern.

Common headache triggers

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