A headache is pain or discomfort felt in any region of the head or face. While most headaches are not indicative of serious underlying conditions, understanding their characteristics can help individuals recognize potential types and causes.
Identifying Your Headache’s Characteristics
Identifying your headache involves noting its location, such as around the temples, forehead, or one side of the head. Describe the type of pain, whether it’s throbbing, a dull ache, sharp, or a band-like pressure. Assess its severity, from mild to moderate to severe.
Note the headache’s duration, from minutes to days. Also, identify any accompanying symptoms like nausea, sensitivity to light or sound, visual disturbances, or nasal congestion. Recognizing potential triggers such as stress, specific foods, or lack of sleep is also valuable.
Understanding Common Headache Types
Tension headaches are common, described as a dull ache or tight band of pressure around the head. Pain typically occurs on both sides, affecting the forehead, temples, or back of the head. They can last from 30 minutes to several days. Unlike other types, tension headaches generally lack accompanying symptoms like nausea or sensitivity to light or sound, and stress is a common factor.
Migraine headaches involve intense, throbbing or pulsating pain, often felt on one side of the head, though it can occur bilaterally. The severity can range from moderate to severe, often interfering with daily activities. Migraine attacks can persist for hours to days, commonly accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and heightened sensitivity to light and sound. Some individuals also experience an “aura” before or during a migraine, which might involve visual changes like flashing lights or blind spots, or sensory disturbances such as tingling.
Cluster headaches are characterized by severe, sharp, or piercing pain, usually concentrated behind or around one eye. These attacks are short-lived, lasting from 15 minutes to three hours, but can occur frequently throughout the day. Accompanying symptoms often include tearing, redness of the eye, nasal congestion or a runny nose on the affected side, facial sweating, or a drooping eyelid. Cluster headaches are known for their cyclical nature, occurring in “clusters” over weeks or months, followed by periods of remission.
Beyond the Common: Other Headache Causes
Headaches can also stem from underlying conditions. Sinus headaches, for instance, cause pressure and pain in the face, forehead, or behind the eyes. They are associated with sinus infection symptoms like nasal congestion or fever. Pain may worsen when pressing affected areas or bending forward.
Medication overuse headaches, sometimes called rebound headaches, can develop from the frequent use of acute headache medications. These headaches paradoxically become daily or near-daily occurrences that worsen with continued medication use. They occur when the effects of the medication wear off, leading to a cycle of pain and further medication intake.
Cervicogenic headaches originate from problems in the neck, with pain often radiating from the neck to the head or face. This type of headache is commonly unilateral, affecting one side of the head, and may be accompanied by neck stiffness or a limited range of motion. The pain can be exacerbated by certain neck movements or positions.
Urgent Signs: When to Get Help
While most headaches are not serious, certain symptoms warrant immediate medical attention. A sudden, severe headache, often described as the “worst headache of life,” is a serious sign. Headaches with fever, stiff neck, or a rash also require urgent evaluation. Neurological symptoms like confusion, seizures, double vision, weakness, numbness, or difficulty speaking, alongside a headache, indicate a potential emergency.
A headache after a head injury, regardless of how minor, requires prompt medical assessment. A headache worsening progressively over days or weeks, or showing a significant change in its usual pattern, should be evaluated. New headaches in individuals over 50, or those with a history of cancer or a weakened immune system, also warrant evaluation.