Headache is a nervous system disorder that can be of different types. It
is one of the most recurrent and constant uneasiness that people can
experience. For some, it is tolerable and some fail to bear the excruciating and
throbbing pain. Depending on the typesof headaches, the treatment plan must be chosen. Some have easy remedies
and medicine to get rid of them, and some last for a lifetime.
Whatever type of headache you might have, it is very crucial that yours
has been identified properly. Misdiagnosis may worsen the condition or at least
prolong the pain, due to no proper support and supply of medicines. According
to the World Health Organization, 47% of the adult population has had a headache
at least for once within the previous year. Despite this huge number of
sufferers, headache is one of the most under-recognised, underestimated as well
as undertreated conditions.
Types of
headaches:
A disorder of nervous system, a headache is a very disabling and
painful feature. There are different types
of headaches depending on the cause of its occurrence. Thus, there are the
primary headaches that are caused by direct reasons and there are secondary
headaches that are side effects or after effects of some other diseases or
medication usage. More than 150 different kinds of headaches have been
medically categorised. Amongst these, the most common ones are – tension
headaches, sinus, migraines, cluster headaches, mixed headache, acute or
chronic headaches etc.
- Tension type headache:
It is a non-progressive and chronic daily headache in which mild to
moderate pain is felt. This type of pain caused by tension is mostly
short-lived.
- Sinus headache:
Sinus pains are also one of the most common types of headaches and affect the forehead, cheekbones and bridge
of nose. Nasal discharges, facial swelling, fever etc. are caused by the
inflammation of the sinusitis. Sudden head movement can make the pain severe.
- Migraine headache:
Most people mistake their pain as sinus. However, in a 2004 study, it
was seen that 80% of the doctor-diagnosed or self-diagnosed sinus headaches
were actually migraines and had no signs of sinusitis. What causes migraine has
not been understood, but in this case, serotonin levels in brain drops down and
neuropeptides travel through the meninges. This causes this excruciating pain
that can last for hours to 3 days at a stretch. Many people experience auras
such as blind spots, flashes of light and intolerable sensitivity to light and
sound, before the actual attack.
- Cluster headache:
One of the rarest of all types
of headaches is cluster headache that occurs in only 1% of the entire
population. Some even refer to this type as “suicide headache” due to the
unbearable pain that the sufferer considers suicide as a better choice. The
pain occurs behind the eye and is constantly throbbing. It can attack up to
thrice a day and last for two weeks to three months.
