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TYPES OF HEADACHES.

Posted By Dr. Eric Baron on Mar 16, 2021

Last updated on April 10th, 2021 at 05:29 am

TYPES OF HEADACHES – 2021

@Neuralgroover

According to the World Health Organization, headaches are a global problem, affecting people of all races, income levels, and regional areas. Headache disorders impact about 50% of people worldwide. Moreover, it is estimated that 50% to 75% of adults aged 18 to 65 have suffered from a headache or a migraine within the last year. A smaller percentage of people worldwide, 1.7% to 4%, have headaches that last for two weeks or longer. Let’s take a look at the four different types of headaches, what causes them, and some common treatments that may relieve them.

The Four Different Types of Headaches

There are, in fact, 150+ different types of headaches. However, the four most common types of headaches are: tension headaches, migraine headaches, sinus headaches, and cluster headaches.

What Are Tension Headaches?

Tension headaches typically are moderate to mild in nature and can be best described as feeling like a tight band around one’s head. By and far, these are the most common types of headaches and their origins are not well understood. Common symptoms include a dull, aching, pressure pain in both sides of your head; tightness in your forehead, sides, and back of your head; and muscle soreness in your shoulder, neck, and scalp. They can not be a throbbing pain. If there is any throbbiness to the headache, it takes it out of tension type headache criteria and moves it into migraine criteria. Tension type headaches are not worsened by physical activity, in contrast to migraine which are. Tension type headaches should not be associated with nausea or vomiting, in contrast to migraine which can be. There may be some mild sensitivity to light (photophobia) or sound (phonophobia), but tension type headache should not have both. In contrast, migraine requires both features.

What Are Sinus Headaches?

Sinus headaches are usually indicated by pressure around your eyes, cheeks, and forehead. You may also experience a throbbing forehead. However, these features can also be consistent with migraine because in general, any type of throbbing pain places the headache into the migraine category. In fact, there was a large study done in the past in which almost all of the patients with either self-diagnosed or physician-diagnosed sinus headache turned out to actually be migraine headache. Migraine also activates the sinus pathways and cavities and can cause referred pain into the teeth and TMJ areas. So for many patients, their migraines include a lot of sinus type symptoms. Therefore, it is easy to see how migraine often gets mistaken for sinus headache. For some people with true sinus headache, they feel like a sinus infection. Historically, the existence of true “sinus headaches” has been a debatable topic, and it’s presence generally revolves around whether there is an ongoing sinus infection or not. If there is, this can certainly be a source of headache, and it is typically associated with fevers and drainage (often colored, purulent discharge). Some common symptoms include:

Fatigue
A stuffy sensation in your nose
Pain and pressure in your cheeks, brows, and forehead.

What Are Cluster Headaches?

Cluster headaches are called as such because they happen over cyclic time frames or “clusters.” These types of headaches can wake you up in the middle of the night and they frequently happen on one side of your head or near an eye. The pain of cluster headaches is severe, and they have been termed “suicide headaches” because of the severity of the pain. Cluster headaches are more rare than other types of headaches. Some symptoms include:

Pain that is situated around or behind one eye
One-sided pain, versus other headaches where the sensation of pain is often more global
Stuffy or runny nose on the side of your head that hurts
Red and tearing eye on the side of the head that is impacted
Restlessness

What Are Migraine Headaches?

Migraine headaches, according to some patients, are the worst type of headache. These types of headaches are characterized by a throbbing sensation, most commonly one one side of the head, but can also be both sides. Additionally, they often come with nausea, sometimes vomiting, and a sensitivity to light and sound. Migraines come in stages, but not everyone goes through all the stages.

The stages of migraines include:

Prodrome: Some mild symptoms that indicate an oncoming migraine attack, including neck stiffness, moodiness, food cravings, and other subtle symptoms. This may occur even a day or more before the attack starts.

Aura: Seeing bright lights or various shapes, numbness and tingling, speech disturbances, overall weakness, and other symptoms that happen right before or during the onset of a migraine. About 25% of patients get aura (classic migraine), while 75% get no aura (common migraine).

Attack: During a migraine attack, migraine sufferers typically experience the worst symptoms, including pain on one side of the head, nausea, and other symptoms. A migraine attack itself can last for up to 72 hours.

Post-Drome: After the migraine, people tend to experience tiredness and sudden head movement can bring on some pain. At this stage, people report excess fatigue, generalized soreness, and commonly report feeling like they were “hit by a bus”.

Migraines can be read about in much more detail here.

Common Questions About the Various Types of Headaches

What causes the various different types of headaches?

There is not a singular known medical cause for headaches. Primary headaches are when the headache itself is the primary health issue that the sufferer is dealing with. Secondary headaches are those that are caused by a medical condition (such as a brain tumor). Let’s take a look at what the most common causes are for the various types of headaches:

Tension headaches: These can be caused by stress, depression, injury, or other issues.

Sinus headaches: These headaches are most commonly caused by sinusitis and allergies.

Cluster headaches: The exact cause of cluster headaches are unknown, but it may have something to do with biological processes since cluster headaches are cyclical.

Migraines: As with other types of headaches, there migraines don’t have a clear cause. Common suspected causes include hormones, diet, dehydration, and other physical or lifestyle factors.

When should you seek medical attention/advice for any type of headache?

You should seek medical attention/advice when you have any type of headache. Sometimes, a headache may be indicative of a larger medical problem. At least one visit with your doctor is recommended for any type of headache because even secondary headaches (caused by a medical condition) can sometimes present as a standard primary type of headache. A visit with your doctor may uncover additional information from a more detailed history during questioning and neurological physical exam. Repeat headaches can impact the quality of your life and should be treated. Sometimes, your regular doctor may not know how to adequately deal with a headache. Some doctors are especially trained to deal with headaches, specifically headache specialists.

What type of headaches should a headache sufferer worry about?

Generally speaking, any type of headache should be a cause for concern. However, there are certain situations where headaches may be indicative of a larger, more serious medical issue. Headaches associated with the following symptoms should be a cause for concern:

A high fever, chills, night sweats, neck stiffness
The sudden onset of very intense headache pain (thunderclap headache) with peak headache intensity in less than a minute
Fainting, disorientation, or loss of balance or equilibrium
Weakness on any side of the body or any other neurological symptoms including visual loss or vision changes, double vision, trouble swallowing, numbness, tingling, speech disturbances (slurred speech, trouble getting words out, trouble understanding speech), vertigo, behavioral or personality changes
Nosebleeds
Pulsatile tinnitus or papilledema (swelling of optic nerve on eye exam)
Other issues, such as weight loss, vision issues, jaw cramping, and other factors
History of cancer, immunosuppression, HIV
New onset headaches under age 5 or over age 50
Headaches triggered by Valsalva maneuvers (coughing, straining, laughing, bending forward, exertion, exercise, sexual activity, bearing down such as during a bowel movement)
Progressive worsening and changing of headaches into a higher frequency or daily frequency
Postural worsening of headache (worsens when standing and improves when lying down, or worsens when lying down, improves when standing up)

What are some common tests for the more serious types of headaches?

Some headaches, such as cluster headaches, are not commonly understood. Other types of headaches may have an underlying cause. If you see a neurologist or other medical specialist, you might experience some of the following tests for them to better diagnose and understand the underlying cause of your headache:

Eye & ear exam
CT scan
MRI scan
EEG scan
Blood and spinal fluid tests

A headache specialist will often try and get access to your medical records and history so that they can better treat your condition.

Which type of doctor commonly deals with the various types of headaches?

Neurologists are the most common type of specialized doctor that headache sufferers see. However, they will often refer to a headache specialist for more complex headache and facial pain disorders, or if treatments are not helping the patient. General medical practitioners may be able to make a referral and provide some basic treatment, as they are often the first line of headache evaluations. On occasion, an ENT doctor may provide treatment for secondary headaches that are related to sinus and ear issues.

IF YOU HAVE HEADACHE, MIGRAINE, OR FACIAL PAIN AND ARE LOOKING FOR ANSWERS ON ANYTHING RELATED TO IT, A HEADACHE SPECIALIST IS HERE TO HELP, FOR FREE!

FIRST, LET’S DECIDE WHERE TO START:

IF YOU HAVE AN EXISTING HEADACHE, MIGRAINE, OR FACIAL PAIN DIAGNOSIS AND ARE LOOKING FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION, HOT TOPICS, AND TREATMENT TIPS, VISIT OUR FREE BLOG OF HOT TOPICS AND HEADACHE TIPS HERE. THIS IS WHERE I WRITE AND CONDENSE A BROAD VARIETY OF COMMON AND COMPLEX MIGRAINE AND HEADACHE RELATED TOPICS INTO THE IMPORTANT FACTS AND HIGHLIGHTS YOU NEED TO KNOW, ALONG WITH PROVIDING FIRST HAND CLINICAL EXPERIENCE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A HEADACHE SPECIALIST.

IF YOU DON’T HAVE AN EXISTING HEADACHE, MIGRAINE, OR FACIAL PAIN DIAGNOSIS AND ARE LOOKING FOR POSSIBLE TYPES OF HEADACHES OR FACIAL PAINS BASED ON YOUR SYMPTOMS, USE THE FREE HEADACHE AND FACIAL PAIN SYMPTOM CHECKER TOOL DEVELOPED BY A HEADACHE SPECIALIST NEUROLOGIST HERE!

IF YOU HAVE AN EXISTING HEADACHE, MIGRAINE, OR FACIAL PAIN DIAGNOSIS AND ARE LOOKING FOR FURTHER EDUCATION AND SELF-RESEARCH ON YOUR DIAGNOSIS, VISIT OUR FREE EDUCATION CENTER HERE.

IF YOU HAVE AN EXISTING HEADACHE, MIGRAINE, OR FACIAL PAIN DIAGNOSIS AND ARE LOOKING TO ASK QUESTIONS TO A HEADACHE SPECIALIST OR OTHER HEADACHE, MIGRAINE, AND FACIAL PAIN WEBSITE MEMBERS, VISIT OUR FREE DISCUSSION FORUMS HERE.

HEADACHE CHART AND HEADACHE LOCATIONS FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF HEADACHES.

Posted By Dr. Eric Baron on Feb 7, 2021

Last updated on April 5th, 2021 at 12:57 am

HEADACHE CHART AND HEADACHE LOCATIONS FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF HEADACHES.

@Neuralgroover

I can picture it now. You’re sitting there late at night breaking out into a cold sweat, heart racing, convincing yourself a brain tumor is the cause of your headache as you are Googling a variety of terms such as…

…temple headache, headache behind eye, headache behind eyes, headache on top of head, headache in the temples, headache back of head, headache in front of head, headache on one side, front of head headache, headache on right side, headache on left side, headache in temple, headache forehead, pain behind eye, headache behind the eyes, headache and nausea, pain behind eyes, headache on left side of head, headache on right side of head, headache in back of head, front head headache, headache temple, headache at the front of head, stomach upset, left side headache, right side headache, headache behind right eye, temples headache, headache behind left eye, nausea and headache, pain in head, sharp pain in head, neck pain and headache, constant headache, head pressure, ice-pick headache, headache front, pressure headache, sex headache, exertion headache, cough headache, right temple headache, left temple headache, throbbing headache, headache meaning location, frontal headache, types of headaches diagram, headache types chart, pounding headache, headache locations chart, headaches in eyes, pain top of head, headache above left eye, headache map, headache above right eye, etc., etc., etc…

Ok, I think you get the point. Sound familiar? Now that you’ve earned your honorary Doctor Google degree, let me help provide some direction for you and your headache self-research.

And let me tell you a BIG secret…

Headaches are not diagnosed based only on their location. They are diagnosed by the “company they keep”. In other words, the characteristics, patterns, and associated symptoms that go with the headache are the more important key pieces of information which narrow down the most likely headache types. Headache location by itself without any other information is actually quite useless. The International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD3) classifies every headache type according to the headache and all of the associated features. Each headache type must match a specific set of characteristics and associated symptoms set forth in the criteria, and headache location is only one of many features taken into account.

By combining the headache location with associated symptoms, patterns, and characteristics of the headache, it can then be more accurately narrowed down. This in turn makes choosing the correct treatment more accurate and effective. This is absolutely key. The end result is that you are on the more appropriate path to improvement rather than someone throwing “headache” pills randomly at a headache that they haven’t given a specific name to, and the treatment they are using may not be the treatment that your specific type of headache needs (and sometimes it can even make it worse). I see this scenario in my headache clinic every day given the shortage of headache specialists. This is why I created a FREE headache and facial pain symptom checker as discussed further down.

Let’s take migraine as just one example. Migraine can vary widely in its location between patients and between attacks within the same patient. Any one of those Googled headache location terms listed at the top could potentially represent migraine. Those locations could also represent many other specific types of headaches as well, and they would require a much different type of treatment or evaluation than migraine would. The headache location doesn’t fully match with migraine until you combine it with the required criteria of associated symptoms that make the migraine diagnosis which may include a combination of symptoms such as nausea, sensitivity to light (photophobia), sensitivity to sound (phonophobia), throbbing or pounding pain, moderate to severe pain intensity, worsening with exercise, one sided predominance, and of course ruling out other more concerning “secondary” causes of the headaches. So clearly, Googling the headache location alone doesn’t help you figure out the cause or type of the headache at all, nor the most effective treatment. The bottom line is that location of pain alone doesn’t narrow down the type of headache or facial pain that you have. The associated symptoms and patterns that go with the headache are the keys to the possible headache types.

Thus, I created a FREE headache and facial pain symptom checker. The purpose is to help you with more personalized self-research with a list of possible headache types to discuss with your local doctor in hopes of helping you and your doctor have a better discussion of possible headache types, as well as better treatment considerations. Remember, any type of headache and facial pain requires an office visit and physical examination with your doctor. This symptom checker tool is purely educational to provoke thinking of a variety of headache possibilities. However, bad causes of headache can present as mild and simple headache disorders such as migraine. So, a visit to your doctor to evaluate your headache is a mandatory step that you must do.

When you are trying to narrow down the type of headache or facial pain you may have, these are the additional characteristics and symptoms that you need to take into consideration, and are the key questions a headache specialist will ask you in the office. Go through the following list of headache features, think about each one, and write down your responses. If you have different types of headaches, it is important to focus on and think about only one type at a time (even though they are typically different manifestations of the same underlying headache disorder).

1) Location of pain. As mentioned above, pain location is only one of many important characteristics of a headache disorder, but without factoring in the associated symptoms, patterns, and characteristics, it is quite useless alone. I have broken down 8 general patterns of headache and facial pain locations to choose from. Go through the following headache location charts and pick the one that is most consistent with your headache or facial pain location. These are screenshots from the first step of the headache and facial pain symptom checker algorithm. There may be some variation to your attacks and the location may vary between different attacks, so pick the one which summarizes the areas involved overall for the particular type of headache you are analyzing.

2) Frequency of the headache or facial pain attacks. How often do the attacks of headache of facial pain occur? Once per day and several days per month, 8 different attacks per day, etc.? Is there a pattern to the attacks, such as a seasonal occurrence?

3) Duration of the headache or facial pain attacks. When you get an attack of headache or facial pain, how long does each individual attack last until it goes away completely if it is untreated or unsuccessfully treated? 30 minutes, greater than 4 hours, 15 minutes, several days, etc.?

4) Description and characterization of the headache or facial pain. How would you describe the pain of the headache or facial pain if you had to put it into words? Throbbing, pounding, pulsating, achy, excruciating, pressure, electrical, shock, burning, sharp, stabbing, ice pick stabbing, etc.?

5) Associated neurological symptoms. Is the headache associated with visual disturbances such as lost vision, flashing lights, shapes, zig-zags, colors, wavy lines, kaleidoscope, jagged edges, etc.? Is there numbness or tingling in an area of the body associated with a headache attack such as on one side of the face and body? Is there weakness on one side of the body with the headache? Are there problems speaking or getting words out with a headache attack?

6) Additional symptoms. Is your stomach upset or do you feel nauseated or sick to your stomach with a headache attack? Do you vomit? Do you feel sensitive to bright light and/or loud sound when the headache is at its worst (where you would prefer to be in a dark quiet area if you had the chance)? Does an eye turn red or tear excessively during a headache attack? Does your nose run or get congested on one side during a headache attack? Does your eyelid droop on one side or does it get puffy around an eye on one side with a headache attack?

When you are done going through and thinking about all of these headache characteristics, patterns, and associated symptoms, take a run through this FREE headache and facial pain symptom checker algorithm questionnaire which I created to help you with more personalized self-research with a list of possible headache types and treatments to discuss with your local doctor.

Good luck, and I hope this tool leads you in a better direction of more educational and useful discussions with your doctor regarding possible headache types and more effective treatment considerations!

Do me a HUGE favor and if you have found this headache symptom checker tool helpful and it led to a more successful outcome of narrowing down your headache types and treatments when you saw your local doctor, PLEASE let me know and drop me a message here or on Twitter!!