SIGNS
If you have a headache with:
- a dull, constant pain that feels like a band is squeezing your head, then you are experiencing a tension headache.
- throbbing that starts on one side and results in nausea, you are suffering from a migraine. Visual problems, like blinking areas of light, might occur before a headache.
- a pulsing pain surrounding one red, teary eye, with a stopped up nose on this side of your face, you have a cluster headache.
- persistent pain behind your face that feels worse when you lean over and is combined with congestion, you have a sinus headache.
Most headaches, even though troublesome and painful, are not major health concerns and are treated easily with analgesics or aspirin. Nevertheless, if they are terrible, happen all the time, or cause additional symptoms, you might have to do more, like visit your doctor.
The underlying causes of headaches are the basis of their categorization. One common category is muscle contraction, or tension headaches. Vascular (blood vessel) headaches are the second type that occur frequently; migraines as well as cluster headaches are included in this group. Sinus issues are the cause of a third group of headaches.
SYMPTOMS
If your headache is:
- a dull, steady pain that makes it seems as if a band is tightening around your head, you are suffering from a tension headache.
- throbbing on one side and you are nauseous, you have a migraine. Before a headache starts, visual impairments like flashing lights may occur.
- a pain that is throbbing around one watery, red eye, and nasal congestion on the same side of your face, you have a cluster headache.
- unrelenting pain in the area behind your face that becomes worse when you bend forward, and you additionally experience congestion, you have a sinus headache.
Most headaches are not major concerns, even though they are troublesome and painful, and are treated easily with other analgesics or aspirin. You might want to take additional steps if they occur frequently, are severe, or there are other symptoms, and you will want to consult with your doctor.
Headaches are classified by their fundamental origin. One common group is made up of tension and muscle contraction headaches. Both migraine and cluster headaches can fall into the second biggest category, vascular (blood-vessel) headaches. A third category is made up of headaches resulting from sinus conditions.
Just about everyone has a tension headache sooner or later. The dull, persistent, non-throbbing pain can make it seem as if a tight band is gripping your head. Your neck and head might have a sensitivity to touch and the muscles on the neck might feel knotted. The main source of the pain is the irritation of the muscles that are taut from the endings of the nerves in the neck and head. Headaches from tension can be chronic and lasting, or infrequent and short-lived.
Completely incapacitating, the most debilitating of headaches is the migraine. A small number of migraine sufferers experience an aura before the migraine, which could involve visual disturbances such as blind spots, zigzagging or flickering lights, and occasionally strange odors or even numbness in arms or legs. Migraines normally start with a throbbing pain that is intense on one side of the head, many times with no warning. The pain may grow and nausea and vomiting typically follow. Oversensitivity to odors, sound, and light can be caused by a migraine which can last three days or a few hours.
It appears that the various migraine symptoms are affected by the diameter of blood vessels in the head; during the initial stage the blood vessels constrict and when the headache pain starts, they dilate. An imbalance in a chemical in the brain, called serotonin, might create these changes. Hormones may also be a contributing factor, as there is a significant association between fluctuating estrogen levels and migraine.
As they have a tendency to come in bunches, another group of headaches is referred to as cluster headaches. They normally occur a few hours after a person drifts off to sleep and sometimes a mild aching feeling occurs on one side of the head before they start. The pain is normally intense and stabbing, and usually occurs in and around one watery, red eye. It will usually remain for between 30 minutes to two hours, then start to recede or stop altogether, only to possibly return the next day. It is possible for four or more attacks to take place during one day, and cluster headaches can occur every day before going into remission for an extended period of time. The majority of victims are males.
Sinus headaches produce pain around the forehead, nose and eyes, and occasionally across the top of the head; they can also lead to a sensation of pressure behind the face. Swelling or a membrane infection inside the sinus lining can cause these headaches. Headache pain could also come from sinus wall suction, which happens when the nose is stopped up and this partially blocks the sinuses.