Different Types Of Headaches

Are you prone to headaches? Find out the what, why and how of headaches…

Each time I move, I cringe. My head is ready to burst. I do not know what to do, it is yet another headache. For now I am going to settle with popping aspirin and getting twenty minutes of sleep. The next thing I am going to do is get some concrete information on headaches. So many of us feel this way, when we feel that headache building. What I did was get as much information as I could.

A headache is a pain that is felt in the head, between the eyes, ears, behind the head and even at times at the back of the upper neck. A headache should never be treated lightly; it should be treated as seriously as chest pain or dizziness. Headaches are of two types, primary and secondary headaches. Primary headaches are not caused by any other diseases. Primary headaches are migraines, tension headaches and cluster headaches. Secondary headaches on the other hand are caused because of another disease. These may be associated to a disease that is serious, minor or sometimes life-threatening.

Tension headaches are the most common type of primary headache to plague people. More than 90% of the totally adult population had had a tension headache. Women are more prone to tension headaches than men. Where migraine headaches are concerned, these are the second most common types of headaches. In fact it has been found that nearly 28 million people in the United States and that’s 12% of the population has experienced migraines. Adult women are more prone to migraines than men. Most often people confuse migraine headaches with sinus headaches or tension headaches and hence migraines don’t get treated properly as they should. Cluster headaches on the other hand are rare type of headaches, only about 0.1% of the population is affected by them and its more prominent in men that women.

Secondary headaches on the other hand are much more complex. This is because they have different causes and could be ranging from brain tumors, stroke, meningitis and even hemorrhages. Most people suffer from mixed headaches, which means people start off with getting sinus or tension headaches which later on lead to migraine headaches.

Tension headaches normally begin at the back of the head and upper neck and feel like someone is tying a tight band across your head and putting immense amounts of pressure around the eyebrows. Tension headaches are mild and do not affect both sides of the head. They sometimes cause nausea and vomiting and also make the sufferer sensitive to light, sound and movement. There is no fixed pattern to tension headaches, they are painful but people can mange with them.

Migraines on the other hand are chronic headaches. These are more intense and normally attack one temple, and sometimes the pain seems to radiate in the forehead, near the eye and behind the head. A migraine normally attacks on side of the head, but can also affect both sides sometimes. Migraines affect people to a great extent so that it hampers day-to-day activities. People are prone to nausea, vomiting, cold hands, and cold feet and are more sensitive to light, sound and movement.

Cluster headaches as the name suggests comes in groups lasting for weeks or months at a time, followed by a headache free period. When a person has a cluster headache, he or she will sometimes get 2 headaches in a day. Each of these can last from 30 minutes to 90 minutes. The pain is unbearable and is located on one side of the head near or behind on eye. The nose can also get congested and runny during this headache. These cluster headaches are more common in men than women.