So. Here it is, another day . . . and another day with head pain. What to do . . . Migraine abortives . . . pain pills . . . a hot shower . . . a decongestant . . . relaxation exercises? It all depends on what kind of head pain you have. (There have been times when my head hurt badly enough that I've asked my doctor if he was up on the latest "headectomy" techniques. <g>) It's sometimes hard to tell, and one kind of head pain can trigger another. For example, tension headaches will frequently trigger a Migraine for Migraineurs.
Our Head Pain:
We conducted a poll to find out what kind of headache disorders plague those of you who visit here. Thank you so much to all of you who responded! The results were:
-
Migraine: 60.1%
-
Tension headache: 17.1%
-
Sinus/allergy headache: 9.5%
-
Cluster headache: 5.7%
-
Other headache: 7.6%
The first step in treating our head pain is to get an accurate diagnosis. This is very important for a couple of reasons:
-
Head pain can be a symptom of various diseases or physical anomalies such as tumors or aneurysms. A CAT Scan of the sinus cavities is helpful, as is an MRI to rule out tumors and other problems. Keep in mind that your doctor may not order such tests immediately. It's quite normal procedure to try treatment first, and do such tests if the treatments fail. Your keeping a headache diary will also be helpful to your doctor for diagnosis purposes.
-
Treatment methods and medications for different types of head pain vary. For example, the triptan drugs used to treat migraine (e.g. Imitrex) do nothing for sinus/allergy headaches.
>>Please click the link below to continue to page 2, What Are the Symptoms of the Different Types of Head Pain?<<
