Headaches Explained! Headache Relief, Types & Causes

Headaches explained. Now, headaches are very common and they can be quite debilitating. They can keep you from being able to work, from being able to go to school, from being able to function. The good news is that most headaches are not life-threatening, but some of them are. So today, I'm going to give you headaches explained. I'll cover headache relief, types of headaches, and causes. Plus, how to know if your headache is a matter of life or death.

This video is intended to be informational only. It is not a medical consultation, nor is it personalized medical advice. For medical advice, please consult your physician.

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Types of Headaches

Tension Headaches
So let's start with tension headaches. Tension headaches are actually the most common cause of people buying over the counter analgesics or pain medicines for headaches. They are bilateral, meaning they happen on both sides of your head. They tend to feel like someone has a band that is wrapped around your forehead and exerting constant pressure. The pain of tension headaches is mild to moderate, usually not very severe. And that pain is constant. It's not typically a pounding or a throbbing pain.

Migraine Headaches
Another type of primary headache, migraine headaches. Now whether you have them or not, you have all heard of migraine headaches. Unlike tension headaches, which are mild to moderate, migraine headaches tend to be moderate to severe. Very severe as in very debilitating and they can really, really keep you from functioning properly.

Aura Migraine Symptoms
And for people who have recurrent migraines, many of them can time when the actual headache will hit just based on when their prodrome started. About 25% of patients with migraine headaches will get an aura. An aura is a set of symptoms, which can be like hallucinations which occur right before the migraine headache begins.

An aura can be flashing lights or bright spots. In an aura, you can have a change in vision or actually have zigzag patterns or geometrical shapes that show up in your vision. An aura can also include tingling or numbness of the fingers, of the hand, or even a tingling or numbness in the face. In other words, the symptoms of an aura before a migraine headache can be very similar to symptoms of a stroke. For some migraine patients, within a matter of minutes of the aura stopping, the migraine headache begins.

Cluster Headaches
Cluster headaches are another type of primary headache. Unlike tension headaches and migraine headaches, cluster headaches are actually not very common. In fact, they occur in less than 1% of the population, and cluster headaches tend to affect men more than they affect women.

Causes of Secondary Headaches
Dehydration - Yes, something as simple as dehydration.

Caffeine Withdrawal - If you are a person who is used to drinking your cups of coffee every day, and then you go a day with no coffee, you may have a caffeine withdrawal headache.

Now, some very important and potentially life-threatening secondary causes of headaches include:

Intracranial Hemorrhages or Brain Bleeds - With some intracranial hemorrhages, the headache can present as a thunderclap. And the patient may describe it as the worst headache of his or her life.
Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
Epidural Hematomas
Subdural Hematomas
Internal Carotid Artery Dissection - can cause a potentially life-threatening headache.
Giant Cell arteritis or Temporal Arteritis - this usually tends to occur in older patients and around the temple.
Underlying Heart Disease
High Blood Pressure

Headache Relief and Treatment
Now, what are the treatments or the relief for headaches? Well, certainly you will want to consult your physician. And if your headache is severe, you'll need to go to the emergency department. But some common reliefs or treatments are as follows.

Tension Headache Treatment:
For tension headaches, many patients are relieved with over the counter analgesics like acetaminophen.

Migraine Headache Treatment:
For migraines, you may also try some over the counter analgesics and then rest, being in a dark room, being in a quiet room, or a room without bright lights. And if your migraines are recurrent or severe, then certainly you want to see your doctor or even your neurologist.

Cluster Headache Treatment:
For cluster headaches, sumatriptan or certain triptans tend to work, as well as oxygen.

This has been headaches explained.

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