The 5 Different Types of Head Pain
It is extremely hard to pinpoint what kind of head pain a person usually suffers from. However, the five different types of head pain would be cluster headaches, migraine headaches, rebound tension, sinus headaches and tension headaches.
In one study that was conducted in the year 2004, 80% of patients with current histories of self-described or doctor-diagnosed sinus headaches were noted, but no single sinus infection was even seen. In general, their histories matched migraine criteria instead. Plus, around 2/3 of these patients showed some kind of dissatisfaction when it came to their prescribed medications. If you are able to properly pinpoint the type of head pain that you are experiencing, it will be much easier to prescribe the ideal treatment for you.
The most common type of head pain happens to be tension headache, where continuous aches or pressures can be felt all around the head, most of all at the back of it and at the temples of the head and neck. Prescription medications aside, other medications like acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen or aspirin would normally be enough to treat tension headaches. Experts think that this kind of head pain might be due to scalp and neck muscle contractions or brain chemical alteration.
The next type of head pain would be cluster headache. This usually affects men much more than women and refers to returning head pain that happens in groups or cycles. Such head pain happens suddenly and is often referred to as a serious and incapacitating pain. It only happens on one side of the head and usually comes with watery eyes and nasal congestion – sometimes even running noses. If you suffer from this type of head pain, you will get restless and uncomfortable quite frequently. Causes of cluster headaches are still unknown to this day. However, although no cure is known either, several treatments could alleviate the frequency and duration of cluster headache attacks.
The next type of head pain would be sinus headache. Whenever the sinus gets inflamed, usually through an infection, head pain could occur, which usually comes with a fever and, if needed, can be diagnosed through MRI or CT scans. This kind of head pain happens due to sinus problems and can be treated with antihistamines or decongestants and antibiotics.
The next type of head pain would be migraine headache, which happens due to neurological disorders that run within the family. This is probably the worst kind of head pain that anybody would need to experience. Migraines actually have the power to completely immobilize people for several days, if not weeks. Therefore, migraine patients have to go through periods of non-productivity which are accompanied by intense head pain and sharp light sensitivity. Typically, migraine headaches are so bad that they usually come with nausea and vomiting and prohibit people from doing their everyday chores and activities.
The last type of head pain would be rebound headaches. If head pain painkillers are overused, rebound headaches could occur. Usually, the culprits would include medicine without prescriptions like acetaminophen, aspirin and ibuprofen.