Headache Awareness Week, June 1-7

Over 45 million Americans suffer from headache. Many report pain and associated symptoms of this disease that can be so severe they have trouble performing normal work, school, family and social activities. The National Headache Foundation (NHF) wants headache sufferers to know their quality of life can improve if they proactively address their condition and work closely with a healthcare provider.

Headache sufferers can learn how to take control of their headaches and take control of their lives by following these five tips from NHF:

1. Recognize you have a real and legitimate medical condition that can be successfully treated.
   
2. Make an appointment to see a healthcare provider for an accurate diagnosis.
   
3. Become informed about your headache type and treatment options.
   
4. Partner with your healthcare provider in decision-making regarding your care.
   
5. Adopt healthy lifestyle habits to improve your quality of life.
   

What Are the Symptoms of the Different Types of Head Pain?

Migraine:

• throbbing, intense pain, generally moderate to severe
  
• usually one-sided, though the pain can move from side to side and sometimes affects both sides
  
• pain is often near the eye of the affected side
  
• often disabling
  
• may last hours, days, or even weeks. Some migraines may continue long enough to require an emergency room visit, or even hospitalization, so stronger medications can be given to break the cycle.
  
• often accompanied by visual disturbances and/or extreme sensitivity to light, sound, and odors
  
• a "classic migraine" is preceded by warning signs called an “aura.” Migraines without the aura are termed “common migraines.”
  

Tension Headache:

• constant, dull pain, not incapacitating, often on both sides of the head
  
• pain is often accompanied by muscle tightness in the shoulders and neck
  
• may last an hour, up to a week
  
• the pain is often described as a band of pain around the head or "like a vise"
  

Sinus/Allergy Headache:

• pain generally mild to moderate, centered around sinuses, above and below eyes
  
• may be accompanied by feeling of pressure behind the eyes that often makes teeth ache as well
  
• often relieved by decongestants, antihistamines, or other allergy medications
  
• studies have shown the majority of self-diagnosed sinus headaches are actually migraine
  

Cluster Headache:

• severe, sharp, stabbing pain usually on one side of the head, centered around the eye
  
• almost always severely incapacitating
  
• occur in clusters of 1 - 4 headaches a day for several weeks, lasting 10 minutes to two hours each, then stopping for months
  
• on the affected side, the eye tears and the nose is often stuffy or runny
  
• most frequent among men
  
• occur most often in the fall and spring
  

For more information about headache causes and treatments, or National Headache Awareness Week, visit the National Headache Foundation web site at www.headaches.org or call 1-888-NHF-5552.