Types of Headaches & How to Minimize Them

March 18th, 2011

Throbbing pain in your head has a way of slowing down your day and making it miserable. Everyone will experience a headache at least once in their lifetime and the discomfort can range from a dull ache to being almost debilitating. There are various reasons for a headache, different types of headaches, and also many cures to combat the effects.

Headaches are from either of two categories: primary which is caused by environmental things and not any underlying medical condition and secondary headaches which are caused by medical concerns such as sinus infections or a head injury. The rate of blood flow to the head is a leading cause of primary headaches, something like drinking an abundance of coffee (which is known to decrease blood flow to the brain) and then suddenly stopping after days of drinking it can lead to a headache because the rush of blood causes the pounding headache.

Stress or tension (primary) headaches...

can be caused by having stress physically on the body or mentally, such as having your muscles tensed in the wrong position like angling the neck wrong while sleeping or by too much work related stress in your life. This type of headache can be a dull steady pain that can permeate through the neck, all over the head, temples, create tension in the scalp along with knotted shoulders. Ways to alleviate the stress headaches include getting more rest, taking an over the counter headache reliever, keeping stress levels down, and stretching properly in the shoulders and neck area.

Another type of primary headache...

would be the migraines. These are evident when blood flow is reduced to the cerebral cortex or there is a change in the contraction and expansion of blood vessels around the brain. The intense throbbing pain can cause a high sensitivity to light, nausea or vomiting, numbness, and flashing lights along with blind spots in the sight. Women are the more likely sex to have migraines and they can frequent during menstruation.

Cluster headaches on the other hand...

are more likely to affect men. These are headaches that cluster in a certain area of the head (generally around the eye area) and happen over a period of days. Excessive alcohol consumption can trigger a bout of cluster headaches.

Aspirin, a good nap, and dimmed lights is often enough to get rid of many headaches, but there are stronger measures for those suffering chronic headaches. Check with your physician so that a suitable recovery regimen can be formulated for your specific pain relief needs.