Today, we’re talking about headaches, a pain that almost everyone experiences at some point in their life.
Have you had a headache recently? If so, you are one of the many millions of people worldwide who experience head pain. The pain can be mild and temporary, and easily cured with a simple painkiller like aspirin. Or it can be severe.
According to the National Headache Foundation, more than forty-five million people in the United States suffer from chronic headaches. These headaches cause severe pain that goes away but returns later.
Some headaches may be difficult to treat and require time. However, many experts are currently working towards finding cures or significant improvements in the treatment of chronic headaches.
The US Headache Consortium is a group comprising seven organisations. They are attempting to improve the treatment of migraines. Some people experience this kind of pain for up to two weeks every month. According to the National Headache Foundation, around 70% of migraine sufferers are women.
Some people describe the pain as a throbbing sensation that puts pressure on the head. Others compare it to having a sharp object driven into their head. Migraines cause Americans to miss at least 150 million workdays each year. A migraine can be mild. However, they can also be so severe that they prevent a person from living a normal life.
One such sufferer is Curtis Croley of Ellicott City, Maryland. Mr Croley experienced headaches as a child. He says he does not know what kind of headaches they were. However, when he experienced severe headaches as an adult, doctors identified them as migraines.
Today, Mr Croley produces and directs films and videos. He says that sometimes months will pass without a headache. However, he then has three migraines within a month. If he takes the medication prescribed by his doctor at the first sign of a headache, it alleviates the pain. If he does not, the pain becomes extremely severe. Sometimes he has needed to be treated with a combination of drugs in hospital.
Some people take medication daily to prevent or alleviate migraines. Others use medication to relieve existing pain. Doctors who treat migraine sufferers often prescribe medicines from a group of drugs known as triptans.
Most migraines respond at least partly to existing treatments. Most people can use these medicines without experiencing adverse effects. Doctors sometimes use caffeine to treat migraines. Interestingly, caffeine can also cause migraines.
The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, has long been recognised by medical experts. The Mayo Clinic states that certain foods are suspected of triggering migraines. These include cheese and alcoholic drinks. Food additives such as salt and monosodium glutamate may also be triggers.
The Mayo Clinic advises patients to avoid strong smells that have previously triggered migraines. Some people react badly to seemingly pleasant-smelling products like perfume.
The Clinic’s experts say that aerobic exercise can help people who suffer from migraines. Aerobic exercise increases a person’s heart rate. Examples include walking, swimming and cycling. However, suddenly starting hard exercise can cause headaches. Therefore, it is advisable to perform some mild exercises before beginning more energetic activities.
The experts also advise people to plan their exercise, eating and sleeping routines for the same times each day.
The Mayo Clinic offers advice on oestrogen for women suffering from migraines. The female body produces oestrogen naturally. Drugs such as birth control pills contain a synthetic version of this hormone.
The Clinic warns that such drugs may produce headaches or cause existing headaches to worsen. The same is true of oestrogen replacement drugs. Doctors sometimes prescribe oestrogen replacement therapy for women who are no longer able to have children.
The Mayo Clinic also states that hypnosis may help to alleviate headaches in children and young people. It says this method may reduce the frequency and intensity of a patient’s headaches. For hypnosis to be effective, a patient must first be willing to undergo this form of treatment. They are then placed in a state that allows them to receive suggestions. They appear to be asleep. These suggestions may be able to focus their entire mental energy on relieving pain.
More people suffer from tension headaches than migraines. However, most tension headaches are not as severe.
Tension headaches can be triggered by emotional pressure and depression, which is a deeper than normal sadness. Other tension headaches can be triggered by something as simple as tiredness. Changes in atmospheric conditions can also be responsible.
According to the Mayo Clinic, you may feel a tension headache as tightness in the skin around your eyes. Alternatively, you may feel pressure around your head. Episodic tension headaches occur from time to time. Chronic tension headaches happen more frequently. A tension headache can last from half an hour to a whole week.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the pain may occur very early in the day. Other symptoms may include pain in the neck or lower head. Scientists are not sure what causes tension headaches. For years, researchers blamed muscle tension caused by tightening of the facial, neck and scalp muscles. They thought that emotional tension caused these movements.
However, this belief has been disputed. A test called an electromyogram shows that people with tension headaches do not experience increased muscle tension. This test records the electrical currents produced by muscle activity. Such research prompted the International Headache Society to rename the condition. The group now refers to it as a tension-type headache.
Some scientists now believe that tension headaches may result from changes in brain chemicals, such as serotonin. These changes may trigger the brain to send pain messages. These changes may also interfere with brain activity that suppresses pain.
Medications for tension headaches can be as simple as aspirin or other painkillers. However, if your pain is too severe, you should consult a doctor.
The website FamilyDoctor.org provides information from the American Academy of Family Physicians. The organisation suggests steps to ease or end a tension headache.
For example, they recommend applying heat or ice to your head or neck. So can standing under hot water while washing. The group also advises exercising regularly. Another suggestion is to take a holiday from work. However, you should ask your employer first.
Anyone with a cluster headache will tell you that the pain is terrible. According to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, cluster headaches can be many times more intense than migraines.
Cluster headaches usually affect young people. People who smoke and drink alcohol often get these headaches. Men are about six times more likely than women to experience them. The Cleveland Clinic says this is particularly the case for younger men. Doctors say that cluster headaches often occur during changes in the seasons.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, cluster headaches originate in an area of the brain known as the trigeminal-autonomic reflex pathway. When this nerve becomes active, it triggers the pain associated with cluster headaches. This process causes one eye to become watery and red.
Studies have shown that activation of the trigeminal nerve may originate in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The Cleveland Clinic says that injections of the drug sumatriptan can help. Many other drugs could be used. For example, doctors say that breathing in oxygen can also help.
Thankfully, modern medicine can treat almost all headaches.