The Different Types of Headaches

Headache is one of the most common health related condition in the world. It is in fact the second most popular form of local pain, next to molar pain  which commonly known as toothache. Headache has a variety of causes, ranging from mild to severe. Just as there is a wide variety of headache causes, there are also different types of headaches.

Types of Headaches

Almost all people have experienced a headache more than once in their lives. For most people, a headache is simply a headache. But there are actually many different types of headache. The major types of headache include:

• Vascular Headache - is a headache where blood vessel swelling or disturbance causes the pain. Vascular headache includes cluster headache, migraine, and toxic headache. The most common type of vascular headache is migraine. This is characterized by severe pain on one or both sides of the head and may include an upset stomach and sometimes distorted vision. Another kind of vascular headache is toxic headache that arises when a person has fever. Cluster headache is yet another form of vascular headache. This is characterized by repeated episodes of intense pain and is usually caused by high blood pressure.

• Tension Headache - is the most common type of headache. Also known as tension type headaches, tension headache is characterized by pain that radiates from the neck, back, eyes, and other muscle groups in the body. Almost all people will have at least one tension headache in their lifetime.  Tension headaches are commonly caused by physical or emotional stress and can be treated with the right lifestyle adjustments.

• Traction Headache - is headache resulting from traction on intracranial structures, generally vascular, by masses. It is mainly caused by distortion, stretching, moving or displacement of pain sensitive structures in the brain such as veins and arteries. The most common case of traction headache seen is eyestrain.

• Inflammatory headache - is caused by infections and lesions such as tumors. In this type of headache, the pain is caused by inflammation that is often associated with diseases of the sinuses, spine, neck, ears and teeth. Inflammatory headache can be treated by dealing with the underlying problem.

• Ice Pick/Ice Cream Headache – is described as a short piercing pain usually lasting for a few seconds to minutes and occurs during the day. Ice pick headaches usually involve one eye. In some patients, cold food causes the pain. Multiple attacks per day is complained by some patients suffering from this type of headache.

• Sinister headache – is a type of headache that is usually caused by meningitis, Subarachnoid Hemorrhage or Cranial Arthritis. A warning sign of this type of headache is the abrupt onset of vomiting. Patients suffering from this type of headache must consult a doctor immediately.

• Facial Headache – is type of headache that occurs when a patient is suffering from Sinusitis or the infection of one or more of the cranial sinuses. Meanwhile, Post Herpetic Neuralgia can also cause facial headache

Like many other types of pain, headache can be a symptom of more serious disorders. This is true for inflammatory headaches that include those related to the meninges and those resulting from diseases of the sinuses, spine, neck, ears and teeth. Thus, the treatment of headache must begin with the identification of its what type it is and what causes it.