(Health.com) – Is it just a tension headache or something more serious like a migraine? Here’s how to tell.
Tension headache
This is by far the most common type of headache, affecting as many as 90 percent of people at some point in their lives. It’s caused by tightness in the muscles of the scalp and the back of the neck.
Symptoms: Dull pressure or tightness in a band around the head, especially the forehead. Usually no other symptoms.
Pain: Mild to moderate
Triggers: Stress or fatigue
Treatment: Over the counter pain relievers like ibuprofen and naproxen. Taking some time to de-stress – deep breathing, gentle yoga, napping, or meditation – might also help.
Migraine
Often mistaken for a tension or sinus headache, a migraine is a neurological condition caused by an overreactive “switch” in the brain stem.
Symptoms: Throbbing pain; sensitivity to light, sounds, and smells; nausea and vomiting; and other symptoms. Twenty percent of sufferers have aura – symptoms such as visual disturbances that precede the onset of pain.
Pain: Moderate to severe
Triggers: Stress, hormonal changes, weather changes, some foods.
Treatment: Stress relief, lifestyle changes, OTC and Rx medications.
Sinus headache
It’s extremely uncommon; most people who think they have one actually have a migraine. Almost half of people with migraines have runny or stuffy nose or teary eyes with their headaches.
Symptoms: Pain around the nose and eyes; runny nose, often accompanied by fever.
Pain: Mild to severe
Triggers: An acute sinus infection
Treatment: OTC pain relievers and sinus meds.
Cluster headache
Rare, it affects 0.1 percent of the people, more commonly men. Because it tends to occur at the same time every day, doctors suspect the hypothalamus – the part of the brain that controls the body clock – is involved.
Symptoms: Intense, penetrating pain behind one eye that usually starts shortly after you fall asleep. They last an hour or two but come in clusters of one or two headaches a day over several weeks.
Pain: Excruciating
Triggers: Alcohol. Also more common in smokers.
Treatment: Prevention can include Rx drugs, nerve blocks injected into the back of your head, and melatonin. Triptans and other medications are used to treat an attack once it’s started.
