Know Your Headache Types
Headaches occur as the result of some tension gripping the
muscles of the head or brain. Headaches can plague
people belonging to all age groups and cultures.
They may be caused due to some tension or some
conditions of the body and the mind.
The term headache is used to describe an ache
or pain that occurs in the vicinity of the head,
face, mouth or neck. It can be either for a short
period of time or last for days or weeks. It can
also be mild or get severe. The nerve fibers in
the tissues, muscles and blood vessels located
in the head are affected by headache.
Why Do Headaches Occur?
Headaches occur due to different reasons
in different people. It can include physical as
well as mental conditions such as;
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Fatigue
- Joint disorders
- Due to some disease
- Muscular tension
- Fever or flu
Types Of Headaches
Headaches come in different disguises;
they can be of many types
Migraine
Migraine is a severe headache type that can disrupt
your life and one headache can put everything
on hold. According to an estimate, women suffer
from migraine more than men. Generally, it begins
as a dull ache and later develops into an intense
throbbing and pulsating at the temples as well
as on sides of the head. Pain is often accompanied
by nausea and aversion to light.
The most common types of migraine are migraine
without aura in which the pain is caused due to
the inflammation and the pressure of the blood
vessels inside the skull. In migraine with aura
the pain is intense and the patient also suffers
from hallucination or disruptions in smell or
taste sensation. Some other types of migraine
are Hemiplegics Migraine, Ophthalmoplegic Migraine,
Retinal Migraine, Basilar Artery Migraine and
abdominal migraine. They may be accompanied by
dizziness, loss of vision, severe pain, and pain
in the eyes, vomiting and diarrhea.
It is very necessary to make a correct diagnosis
for migraine so that proper medication can be
prescribed.
Tension Headache
It is the most common type if headache and can
affect people from young ages to their later years.
It is usually associated with tension, fatigue
and depression that can develop during the years
and occurs once or twice a week. The symptoms
can last for a long time before patients seek
medical help.
Cluster Headaches
They are called cluster as the attack always come
in a group. The pain starts with no prior symptoms
and may last for one hour or several hours. Intense
pain occurs around the eye and can occur between
once a day to eight times a day. The eyes redden
and start watering, the nose either gets blocked
or runny and lids start drooping. It is sometimes
accompanied by fever or dizziness and interferes
with normal activities.
Ice Pick/Ice Cream Headache
This type of headache often attacks people who
are young to people in their middle ages and is
triggered off by eating cold foods such as ice
creams or iced drinks. It involves a short, intense
pain lasting from seconds to minutes and may occur
several times a day and usually involves pain
and bruising on one eye.
Sinus Headache
When the sinuses become inflamed and the passageway
becomes blocked, it results into a headache. Sinuses
are located in the forehead, cheek bones and behind
the nose bridge. When a sinus gets inflamed due
to some allergic reaction, it causes an infection
and leads to pain. In this condition depending
in the severity of the pain,
medicine or antibiotic is prescribed.
It is very important to take proper measures
and medicines to make sure that these headaches
do not become a part of our daily life because
regular occurrence of headaches can lead to complicated
consequences and result in something more hazardous. |
