Headaches are common, and most of us have experienced pain, tenderness, or achiness in the head at some point in our lives.
There are countless causes of headaches, such as:
inflammation
toxic exposures
lack of sleep
stress
dehydration
hormonal imbalances
micronutrient deficiencies
food sensitivities or intolerances, and more
There are many different types of headaches, each with its own unique causes, symptoms, duration and intensity of pain. The more common ones are:
Tension Headache: it usually affects your forehead, both sides of the head at once, and you can feel a constant pressure encompassing around the head like having a tight band. It is more often seen in people with increased stress, poor sleep and prolonged postural strains.
Cervicogenic Headache: the pain originates from a problem in the cervical spine and is often felt at the back of the head, near the neck, forehead, scalp and sometimes even pain around the eyes. It can be related to periods of increased emotional stress or prolonged postural strain, which cause the tension in the muscles around the head and neck, and even nerve compression.
Migraines: people may feel episodes of recurrent and severe headache, with throbbing or pulsating sensation on one side of the head at a time. Very often the pain is felt over the temple area. It can be intense and gets worse with movements. It is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, visual or sensory symptoms, such as seeing flashes of light, colourful or bright shapes, or hearing sounds of various types collectively called “aura.”
Cranial Neuralgia Headache: the pain can be very sharp or electrical in nature, often affecting one of the branches of the trigeminal nerve. The pain can be extremely intense and even disabling.
Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) Headache: the pain is felt in the jaw, behind and below the ear, or along the side of the head. The pain can be quite intense and spread to one or both sides of the head.
Cluster headaches: it feels like a sudden, brief (up to 90 minutes), intense pain centred round one eye, and often combined with redness, tears, sweating and a runny nose. It can also occur in cycles and become severe in an area of the head.
Sinus Headaches: it occurs with inflamed sinuses due to trapped mucus from congestion, infection or irritation. The sinus membranes swell and block the channels to the nose resulting in increasing compression of the facial nerve. The pain can be felt around the eyes and forehead, and it can radiate below the nose. Pain between the eyes and either side of the nose can also happen when there is compression of the facial nerve.
Headaches sometimes can be linked to life threatening medical conditions such as endocrine or metabolic disorders, neurologic conditions, tumours, aneurysms or meningitis. Certain medicationsor contracting a viral infection may cause headaches too. Seek medical advice immediately if you are not sure the reason of the occurrence of headache, when a headache starts suddenly and is extremely painful, or when there are associated symptoms such as confusion, disturbed vision, balance or speech, numbness or weakness, with fever, seizures or unconsciousness, or with persistent vomiting.
