subject: Understanding Headache Types And Their Causes [print this page] Headaches affect millions of people every dayHeadaches affect millions of people every day. Little is known about the reasons we get them, or why some are a minor inconvenience while other headaches can be life threatening. Knowing more about the different types, causes, and treatments can better prepare you to cope with the effects of your next headache.
There are in excess of 200 different types of headache. One of the most common types of headache is the tension headache. This type is caused by factors such as too much caffeine, too much stress, what we eat, and how much we sleep. Treating tension headaches can frequently be stopped by simple lifestyle changes like reducing stress, getting enough sleep, and avoiding the foods that trigger the event.
Tension headaches are commonly treated by over the counter medication such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Use caution when using over the counter medication. Overuse of the drug may cause a rebound headache which is caused by high levels of the drug in your body. Rebound headaches will commonly clear up once the medication is stopped.
Another frequent headache is the sinus headache. This is characterized by a constant strong pain in the forehead and cheekbone area of the face, and is often accompanied by sinus discharge and fever. The root cause of this kind of headache is an infection in the sinus resulting in the sinus becoming inflamed. Sinus headaches are treated with a number of medications such as antihistamines, decongestants, and antibiotics to clear up the infection.
One of the more serious types of headache is the migraine. Some causes of migraines are too much physical exertion, too much exposure to the sun, and consuming caffeine, chocolate, alcohol and many other trigger foods. People often have a genetic predisposition for migraines. A migraine is caused by an enlargement of blood vessels that in turn cause the nerve fibers coiled around the arteries in the brain to release chemicals that cause inflammation of the artery. The larger the arteries swell the greater that pain becomes. Migraines are characterized by an intense throbbing pain on usually one side of the head, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sounds.
Treatment of a migraine can take many forms; identifying and eliminating the triggers that cause your migraine are a good first step. Triggers include such factors as stress, diet, sleep patterns and environmental factors. Relaxation therapy can be a useful tool in the treatment of your migraine. Finally drug therapy can be an over the counter medication for a casual migraine sufferer, and for the chronic migraine patient triptans can be prescribed. Triptans attach to receptors on the blood vessels and constrict them, thereby reducing the inflammation.
Headaches are still somewhat of a mystery. The brain lacks pain receptors and therefore should not cause us any pain. However, pain can be caused by areas in the head and neck that we perceive as a headache. There are many factors in our lives that can cause a headache, such as head trauma, infections, changes in the weather, stress, depression, a genetic predisposition, what we eat, or how much we sleep. Luckily with the right combination of medication and lifestyle changes the burden of headaches can be much more manageable.
