What Type of Headache do You Have: Migraine, Cluster, Sinus, or Tension Headaches?

It is important to know what type of headache you have before you can treat it. Once you know what type of headaches you’ve got, you can use the appropriate pain relievers to fight against it.

Migraine is characterized generally by intense headaches, throbbing pain, nausea, aura, feeling of weakness, cognitive problems (hearing, visual, concentration, etc). It is generally debilitating or disabling. It may affect multiple areas of the body (head, neck, back, abdomen, eyes, jaws, etc), and migraine episodes last for generally about a few hours to 72 hours. While it may get hard for some migraineurs to fall asleep during a migraine attack, migraine seems to lessen or disappear while sleeping. Migraine may get triggered by light, noise, exercise, and stress.

Cluster headache (suicide headache) is a neurological disease that affects only about 0.1% of the population, with men being affected more than women. The pain associated with it is immense, and it tends to occur periodically with periods of attacks ranging from 15 min to three hour. The pain strikes suddenly without giving warning signs, like in migraine (aura), and it reaches its onset so quickly. Some patients reported that they felt being stabbed in the eyes or the head.

Tension headache is the most common type of headaches and occurs to about 90% of people. They are less severe than migraine, present on both sides, and they are generally like a steady or dull headache. They occur when the muscles around your head contract, decreasing blood flow in the head. Most people who have tension a headache report feeling a tight band around their head. So, they feel like some kind of tension or pressure on their heads. Tension headaches occur generally under stress, and they may last a few hours to a few day. Unlike migraine, tension headache continue even while you are asleep.

Sinus headache can often be misdiagnosed as migraine or vice versa. The headache occurs when an infection happens in the sinuses; and they become inflamed. It is characterized by a strong pain in the forehead or face (in the air-filled cavities). The pain intensifies as you bend down and with cold or humid weather. Other symptoms include yellow or green nose discharge and a mild fever.