• Healthy Living
• Mind / Body
• Food / Nutrition / Diet
• Conditions
• Women's Health
• Men's Health

Mind / Body -

Headaches and migraines

There are four types of headache: vascular, muscle contraction (tension), traction, and inflammatory. The most common type of vascular headache is migraine. Migraine headaches are usually characterized by severe pain on one or both sides of the head, an upset stomach, and, at times, disturbed vision. Migraine headaches may last a day or more and can strike as often as several times a week or as rarely as once every few years.

Women are more likely than men to have migraine headaches. After migraine, the most common type of vascular headache is the toxic headache produced by fever. Other kinds of vascular headaches include "cluster” headaches, which cause repeated episodes of intense pain, and headaches resulting from high blood pressure . Muscle contraction headaches appear to involve the tightening or tensing of facial and neck muscles.

Traction and inflammatory headaches are symptoms of other disorders, ranging from stroke to sinus infection. Like other types of pain, headaches can serve as warning signals of more serious disorders. This is particularly true for headaches caused by inflammation, including those related to meningitis as well as those resulting from diseases of the sinuses, spine, neck, ears, and teeth.

Not all headaches require medical attention. But some types of headache are signals of more serious disorders and call for prompt medical care. These include sudden, severe headache or sudden headache associated with a stiff neck; headaches associated with fever, convulsions, or accompanied by confusion or loss of consciousness; headaches following a blow to the head, or associated with pain in the eye or ear; persistent headache in a person who was previously headache free; and recurring headache in children.