Headaches

Pain in the head of variable severity due to a variety of causes; more common over age20, more common in females, stress is a risk factor and genetic not a significant factor. In the US, 7 in 10 people have at least one headache each year. The majority of headaches last for only a few hours, but some can persist of weeks.

Pain may occur in only one part of the head, such as above the eyes, or it may involve the entire head. The type of pain experienced varies; it may be constant and dull or sudden and sharp. Sometimes, other symptoms, such as nausea, occur at the same time.

What are the causes?

There are many possible causes of headache that determine the site and nature of the pain. About 3 in 4 of all headaches are caused by tension in the scalp or neck muscles. Tension headaches (right) tend to recur frequency and cause moderate pain that affects both sides of the head. Other types of headaches, including migraine (right) and cluster headaches (opposite page), have a variety of possible causes.

Very few headaches have a serious underlying cause, but those that do required urgent medical attention. For example, a severe headache may be a sign of meningitis, a condition in which membranes covering the brain and spinal cord become infested, or of subarachnoid hemorrhage in which bleeding occurs between the membranes covering the brain. In elderly people, a headache with tenderness of the scalp or temple may be due to temporal arteritis, in which blood vessels in the head become inflamed. Occasionally, headache results from prolonged use of strong analgesics. If your headache is severe, last more than 24 hours , or is accompanied by other symptoms, such as problems with your vision or vomiting, you should seek medical help without delay.

What might be done?

Your doctor will do a physical examination. If he or she suspects an underlying disorder is causing your headache, you may require test, such as CT scanning or MRI of your brain. Treatment depends on the cause of the headache. For example, a tension headache will usually clear up with rest and analgesics. Cluster headaches and migraine headaches can be treated with specific drugs, such as sumatriptan. Actually for headache using the analgesics drugs which control pain through blocking the nerve pathways that transmit pain signals from the part of the body that is causing pain to the brain.