Helpful Means In Determining What Causes Headache Pain

Using a headache profile allows Doctors to make more complete diagnosis and headache treatment plan. Determining a headache profile is key in understanding and treating headaches. The location and the length of time the pain is present is an important part of that profile In general, unilateral headaches are either migraine or cluster headaches. Migraines can change sides, but cluster headaches are generally one sided. Tension headaches usually will be on both sides of the head. Pain from Trigeminal neuralgia is generally located at a specific place on one side of the jaw or face.Headache treatment may vary depending on which symptoms the patient has. Trying to relieve headache pain is based primarily on the type of headache occuring.

What is the frequency and the duration of the headache? Migraines occur at various times, cluster headaches usually occur in regular time patterns. Migraines generally last 4 to 72 hours. Cluster headache will last 15-120 minutes and occur 1-3 times per day. This can go on for 2 weeks to 6 months. Tension headaches can occur everyday in some patients, but usually last 30 minutes to 7 days in most headache sufferers.

A characterization of the type of pain and how severe it is are important parts of a headache profile. We usually use a scale of 1 to 10 in rating the severity of the headache. 1 is minimal pain whereas 10 is the worst pain ever experienced. Headaches such as migraine or cluster headaches are usually 10 on the pain scale. Most patients describe migraine pain as a chronic pulsating or throbbing pain. It can become a dull constant pain, as the headache gets worse. Cluster headache patients describe their pain as a deep, piercing pain almost as if a hot iron has been put into their head. Vise like pain that runs all the way around the head is the description used by many tension headache sufferers. Pain from Trigeminal Neuralgia is often described as a sharp electric shock that last a few seconds. What is actually causing the pain?

When specialized nerve fiber endings called nociceptors are stimulated, the pain of a headache occurs. The nociceptors can be stimulated by stress, muscular tension, blood vessel dilation or trauma. When they are stimulated, the nociceptor sends a message along the nerve fiber to the nerve cells in the brain, letting it know that the body is hurt. It is believed that chronic headache patients have nocicepetors that are overly excitable. Some researchers refer to this as a hyper-excitable brain. For some reason these nociceptors activate or discharge too easily. This activates the pain pathways and creates a variety of symptoms.The skin and walls of the blood vessels contain many of our nociceptors. The parts of the head that are pain sensitive are: the skin covering the skull and cervical spine, the 5th, 9th and 10th cranial nerves (Major nerves of the head), the nerves supplying the upper part of the neck, the large arteries at the base of the brain, the large arteries that supply the outer cover of the brain (Dura Mater), and the dura mater at the base of the skull.

Modern medicine is working diligently to not only figure out what stimulates this process,but to also determine how it can be prevented from happening. Hopefully, research will soon provide answers to help patients with their headache relief.


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