What Kind Of Headache Do You Have?

Headaches are one of the most common health problems in the world. In fact, every human being would have experienced some kind of headache. Headaches may range from a mild, infrequent, dull ache, to an excruciating, persistent, debilitating condition, which may make it difficult for the person to carry out his or her normal life activities. Advancement in medicine and technology, in recent times has made it easy to diagnose the problem and provide a treatment for it.

What Causes Headaches?

Contrary to belief, it is not the brain that is affected due to headaches. The areas where the pain may originate may include; tissues surrounding the brain like, blood vessels and muscles of the face, neck and scalp, or the area of attachment at the base of the brain

Major Headache Types

Based on etiology, headaches are of two categories, primary and secondary. This classification helps doctors to distinguish between the different kinds of headaches and to arrive at the right treatment method.

Primary Headache

A primary headache is one, which is not caused by a disease or a medical condition. The major types are migraine, tension and cluster headaches. Migraine- Also called neurovascular headache is caused by abnormalities in the blood vessels of the brain, scalp and facial tissues. Medical evidence strongly points to the influence of genetic factors in the etiology of migraine headaches. It may also be precipitated, by extrinsic factors like; food, weather changes, atmospheric pressure, stress and excessive sleep.