Health Articles

Headache

Reports suggest that at least 40% people in the UK suffer headache at some point to the extent that can affect the quality of their life. It is generally defined as a pain in and around the head. Some types of headaches are discussed below briefly.

What are tension headaches?

The most common type of headache suffered by the majority of people worldwide is due to tension-type. Tension headache are also known as stress headache or muscular headaches. If it occurs more frequently, then you should seek treatment. However, occasional headaches are common to occur at least once or twice in a month. During the times of excess stress, headaches can be even more frequent. The symptoms of tension headaches are pain or pressure on both sides of the head, pain at your temples, and pain at the back of your head or neck.

What are Cluster headaches?

The cluster headaches are frequent and short-lived. They can last even less than an hour. The most common symptoms of Cluster headache include excruciating knife-like pain that is centred on one eye, and can spread to other areas on the same side of the head. You may feel excess sweating, redness, or watering of the eye. Your nose becomes runny or bunged-up and sometimes an eyelid droops. Most of the sufferers may feel agitated and unable to sit.
Cluster headaches symptoms

What is a Sinus headache?

If you have a deep and constant pain in your forehead, cheekbones, or the bridge of your nose, then these are considered as symptoms of Sinus headache. Some other symptoms of Sinus headaches are runny nose, fever, and facial swelling.

Headache: Treatment Options

Irrespective of its type, headaches can greatly affect your sleep and life. It can lead to fatigue, tiredness, and even stress. An immediate treatment should be sought for headaches if they occur frequently and cause a major health problem. You can try a host of therapies for headache treatment such as:

• Aromatherapy – In this therapy, oil taken out of flowers, fruits, leaves, shrubs, and tress is used for therapeutic benefits.
• Chiropractic – It means gentle manipulation of muscles and joints to reduce pain and promote good health.
• Physiotherapy – It is the most commonly used therapy for treating a host of physical injuries, diseases, and dysfunction.

For immediate relief from headaches, most people simply take painkillers that sometimes prove effective for most types of headaches. However, it can be risky if you take medications too often. You should try to reduce taking painkillers as much as possible. Instead look for other treatments that are less risky.

With the help of medical technology, some revolutionary devices have been designed that help in the treatment of headaches. One of these popular devices is Cefaly, which uses electrotherapy for pain relief. This device is easy to use and incredibly comfortable. There are no side effects of using this medical device, as it has been well tested in its many trials. Cefaly can be available from any local store or online.

Migraine headaches are no laughing matter. The pain can be excruciating and deserves medical attention, such as proper diagnosis and treatment. According to the National Headache Foundation there are nearly 30 million people that suffer from migraine headaches. Symptoms for a migraine include nausea or vomiting, sensitivity to sound and light, pain that is usually only on one side of the head, and moderate to intense pain that pulsates, throbs, and makes it challenging, if not impossible, to carry out daily activities.

Due to hormonal influences, women tend to experience migraines three times more often than their male counterparts. Nearly 60 percent of women who experience migraines experience menstrual migraines that transpire right before menstruation, during menstruation, during ovulation, or directly after menstruation.

These menstrual migraines are caused by the female sex hormone estrogen. Estrogen regulates the menstrual cycle. When the levels of progesterone (steroid hormone involved in the menstrual cycle) and estrogen change, the chance for headaches is increased. It has been shown that women who take oral contraceptives are more prone to migraine menstrual headaches. Serotonin is also a hormonal trigger for headache pain and studies have shown that for women, it’s more than simply serotonin levels, but also the way female hormones interact with serotonin.

Today there are a number of medications available to help all types of migraine headache sufferers, including medications designed to prevent migraines in the first place. Over-the-counter medications can be used to help relieve pain, though overuse can sometimes cause an increase in migraine headaches. Abortive medicines can stop migraines, and preventative medications can be used if migraines are present several times a month. In addition, migraine sufferers who experience vomiting or nausea can benefit from prescription strength anti-nausea medications.

There are also many beneficial non-pharmacological options to help lessen the frequency and intensity of migraine headaches. Yoga, biofeedback, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, physical medicine, counseling, meditation, aromatherapy, and lifestyle and dietary changes can all help improve the frequency and intensity of migraine headaches. Creating a stress-free, pleasant environment (if possible) can help to relax tension and lessen the frequency of migraines.

Cutting out artificial sweeteners such as sucralose and aspartame can also help, as can getting enough sleep and enjoying regular exercise. If you are experiencing migraine headaches, take a look at your diet, sleeping habits, exercise levels, and stress levels. Talk to a doctor or therapist to find a happy balance that helps relieve your pain in the best medical and non-medicinal ways possible.

Migraine is a form of headache, which is very severe and comes with other symptoms like, problems with vision, nausea and a lot of sensitivity. Migraines are generally happen due to differences in the chemicals present in the brain.
There are various causes of migraines, like physical, hormonal, emotional, dietary, environmental, medicinal and also hormones.

Medicinal Causes:

Intake of certain medications causes migraines. These medications could be sedatives, medication prescribed for menopause which is HRT that is ‘Hormone Replacement Therapy‘ and also birth control pills.

Physical Causes:

Physical activities like bad body posture, a lot of travelling, work timings, tension in the shoulder or the neck, sleeping quality and also fatigue. Menopause could also cause migraine.

Environmental Causes:

Environmental conditions like pungent smells, dazzling lights, smoke, change of weather, in case the temperature is very low or even a lot of humidity, watching a lot of television or usage of computer would also cause migraine and places where there is poor ventilation and short of fresh air also triggers migraine.

Emotional Causes:

Emotions also affect migraine to a large extent. When the person suffering from migraine undergoes too much depression, tension, stress, shock, anxiety or even too much excitement would lead to migraine.

Dietary Causes:

Dietary factors also cause migraine. Foods like cheese, fruits citrus by nature and also chocolate trigger migraine. Other factors like dieting or irregular eating habits, too much of alcohol and caffeine like coffee or tea and also dehydration lead to migraine.

Hormonal Causes:

Fluctuation in hormones also causes migraine. Women tend to get an attack of migraine around the time of their menstrual cycle; this is called the ‘Menstrual Migraine’.

Till date no cure has being found for migraine, but there are many treatments for this condition which help in easing the pain. The treatments are mostly in the form of medicines, which are available in plenty, it is important to know which would best suit you.

Anti – Sickness Medicines:

In cases where nausea is an indication of migraine, then you would be prescribed anti-sickness medications. These are available in the form of tablets and also suppository. These can be taken along with the painkiller.

Triptan Medicines:

Triptan medications are the next step in case painkillers do not help in reducing the migraine pain. They are not like painkillers. These medications tend to contract the blood vessels near the brain. These medications are available in the form of nasal sprays, injections and tablets.

Anti – Inflammatory Medicines:

These medications have anti-inflammatory properties as such they are quite effective in treating the pain.

Painkillers:

These are the most commonly used form of medication used to treat migraine. In fact this is the first step to treat a migraine. There are many painkillers available, like aspirin and paracetamols. These are available in the form of tablets and soluble tablets. The soluble painkillers affect faster as the body absorbs them faster.

Complementary Medicines:

Medications like homeopathy treatment and acupuncture also help in reducing the pain, but these are not proven to be as effective.

Combination Medicines:

Combination medications are medicines which contain both the properties that are they help in the reduction of pain as well as act as anti-sickness.

Migraine Clinics:

These are specialized clinics where the specialist will conduct an examination and check the harshness of the migraine and put you on treatment accordingly.
James S. Pendergraft