For the right treatment of headache, it is the matter of utmost importance to diagnose which type of headache you have. More than two-thirds of headache sufferers aren’t satisfied with the medications they use for treating their headaches. A cheat sheet has been developed by Health.com and it can help you to allocate a name to your pain and getting the treatment accordingly.
Tension headaches
This is the commonest type of headache and in such sort of headaches a constant ache or pressure is felt around the head. Mostly these types of aches are felt at the back of the head or neck or at the temples. Usually, these headaches don’t stop someone from performing their regular activities and they are not severe as migraines.
How to treat: Many specialists believe that tension headaches occur due to contraction of neck and scalp muscles or likely changes in brain chemicals. More often these kinds of headaches can be easily treated with over-the-counter treatments like aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
Cluster headaches
This kind of headaches mostly affect men and seldom the women, they are recurring headaches and often occur in cycles and groups. They emerge suddenly and cause severe pain. During the attack of such headaches, the sufferer often feels quite unbearable pain on one side of the face followed by watery eye and runny nose. It is still unknown what the real cause of cluster headaches is, but many experts believe that they may have some genetic element.
How to treat: For cluster headaches there isn’t any prescribed cure, but medications like Lithium or Verapamil have the ability to reduce the intensity and duration of attacks. In many cases, breathing in 100 percent oxygen also proves very effective sometimes.
Sinus headaches
Usually, because of some infection a sinus gets inflamed and causes pain. Such sorts of headaches often occur with a fever and there are different ways to diagnose it like MRI, CT scan or via fiber-optic scope that tells about the presence of pus.
How to treat: Antibiotics, antihistamines or decongestants are used to treat headaches because of sinus infection.
Rebound headaches
Rebound headaches are associated with the overuse of painkillers for headaches and many over-the-counter pills including aspirin, ibuprofen or acetaminophen are considered culprits in this connection. According to a theory, excessive medications shift the brain into an excited state that triggers further headaches. The other theory says that these headaches are signs of withdrawal when the level of these medicines decreases in the blood.
How to treat: To slowly wean off headache medicines is considered a nice possible treatment but prevention is the best treatment and one must avoid using any acute headache medicine for more than ten days in month.
Migraine headaches
These types of headaches occur due to a neurological disorder that may found in some family and there is certain criterion to define them.
A sensation like visual distortions including blind spots and wavy lines or blind spots or feeling numbness in hands are often considered the warning signs of a coming migraine attack. However, according to an estimate only 15 to 20 percent of patients experience that.
How to treat: Often mild attacks of migraines respond to over-the-counter medicines including ibuprofen, acetaminophen and naproxen. However, prescription medicine is required for severe attacks.
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