A little man is inside your head, pounding your brain with a piece of iron. Beside him, a man beats a rock with a wooden spoon. Your head feels as if it is full of steam and is going to burst. You have a headache, and you think it will never go away.
Doctors say there are several kinds of headaches. Each kind begins in a different place and needs a different treatment.
One kind starts in the arteries in the head. The arteries become larger and send waves of pain to the brain. Some of these headaches start with a change in sight, which warns that a headache is coming. The headache occurs on only one side of the head. The person can't see clearly, and may throw up from the pain. These headaches, which are called migraine headaches, are more frequent in women than in men. Sleep is usually the best cure for them.
Cluster headaches, which also start in the arteries, are called cluster headaches because they come in clusters or groups for 2 or 3 months. Then there are no more for several months or even years. A cluster headache lasts up to 2 hours and then goes away. At the beginning of the headache, the eyes are red and watery. There is a steady pain in the head. When the headache goes away, a low pain stays in the head. Men have more cluster headaches than women do.
The muscle headache is caused when the muscles in the neck or head are too tense. A person works too hard, is nervous about something, or has problems at work, at school, or at home. The neck and head muscles become tense, and the headache starts. A muscle headache usually starts in the morning and gets worse as the hours pass. There is a steady pain and a bursting feeling.
How do doctors treat headaches? If a person has frequent headaches, the doctor first has to decide what kind they are. Medicine can help, but there are also other ways to treat headaches. The doctor will ask the patient to examine his or her daily living patterns. A change in diet or an increase in exercise might stop the headaches. If the patient realizes that difficulties at home, at work, or at school are causing him or her to be tense, it might be possible to make changes and reduce these problems. Stress, and even medicine for another medical problem can cause headaches, too. The doctor has to look at all these parts of the patient's life. A headache can also be a sign of a more serious problem.
Everyone has headaches from time to time. In the United States alone, up to 50 million persons per year go to the doctor because of headaches. If you have a headache, and if it continues over several days, or keeps coming back, it is time to talk to a doctor. There is no special cure for headaches, but doctors can control the majority of them.
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