Headaches

Headaches are one of the chief complaints among patients visiting primary care physicians. Most of us have experienced them at some point of our lives to one degree or another.  There are many types with tension-type headaches reportedly being the most common kind of headache, however patients with this type of headache rarely seek treatment unless occurrence is daily. 
The main types are: 

• Tension headaches (stress headaches, muscular headaches) - a mild to moderate headache that can last minutes or days and often recur. The pain is somewhat constant and felt in either or both sides of the head and neck as a pressure or tension and possibly the face and teeth.   Most importantly, exercise doesn't make it worse and there are no additional symptoms such as nausea.
  
• Migraine - symptoms can be variable, but this is usually a moderate to severe one-sided headache which throbs. It gets worse with activity and other symptoms can include nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea and an increased sensitivity to noise, light or smells, and auras (symptoms such as flashing lights) before the headache.  The cause is still unknown but there are many triggers identified including weather changes, foods, and bright lights.
  
• Cluster headaches – frequent, excruciating unilateral headaches, of extreme intensity across the temple or around the eye and occurring once or more a day, and often disrupting sleep. The duration of the common attack is 15 minutes to three hours. Headaches recur for several weeks then subside, although another cluster may develop months later.

Medication with all its side effects does not have to be the only answer.    You need to seek medical advice from your doctor to confirm the diagnosis and treatment required.