Did you know?

1. Migraines
   Afflicting over 38 million Americans (mostly women), migraines are one of the most common and hardest to treat headache types. Every 10 seconds in the U.S.A. a migraine sufferer goes to the emergency room, and some 90 percent of patients call in sick to work. Migraines are described by experts as a recurrent pain lasting 4 to 72 hours; often occurs on one side of the head as a pulsating, moderate-to-severe pain; can be aggravated by physical activity like climbing stairs or walking; may cause feelings of nausea and/or vomiting; and one in five migraine victims suffer from visual or sensory auras.
   
   Experts aren’t sure what causes migraines, but believe brain cell activity may affect blood vessel and nerve cell function. A genetic history can also lend insight. Rebecca Burch, a neurologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston says genetics can account for up to 50 percent of a woman’s migraine risk.
2. Tension headaches
   Easily the most commonly diagnosed headache, tension headaches affect 30 to 78 percent of the general population at some point in their lives. Some migraine sufferers often misdiagnose their pain as tension headaches. The International Headache Society describes them as infrequent episodes of bilateral headaches with a pressing or tightening pressure in the head or neck.
   
   Tension headaches can last minutes or days, and sound sensitivity (phonophobia) or light sensitivity (photophobia) may be present. Although nausea isn’t usually a symptom, and physical activity doesn’t normally exacerbate the pain, tension-type headaches can still significantly impact quality of life.
   
   Triggers can include anxiety, stress, bad posture or clenching of the jaw. Although the exact cause isn’t known, tension headaches may be a result of altered brain chemicals or mixed signals in the nerves leading to the brain.

3. Dental headaches
   Here’s another reason to see your dentist regularly—dental related conditions such as bruxism or temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) can trigger headaches or face pain. Bruxism is a sleep-related movement disorder where sufferers grind their teeth as they sleep. The joints affected are located just in front of the ear which connect the jaw to the skull. TMJ can be caused by bad jaw alignment, poor posture, arthritis or stress. People who experience bruxism or TMJ often think they are suffering from tension headaches.
4. Cluster headaches
   Cluster headaches are among the most painful of all headaches—victims often refer to them as “suicide headaches.” Men are more likely to experience cluster headaches than women, which can last 15 minutes to three hours. They can occur multiple times a day over a period of time and then remain dormant for months or year. Triggers can include certain foods, alcohol, high altitudes and cigarettes. Physical symptoms are characterized by severe unilateral pain around the eye or along the side of the head. During the onset of an attack, redness or tearing in one or both eyes may be present along with forehead and facial sweating, drooping or swelling of the eyelids and nasal congestion or runny nose.
5. Ice cream headache
   Also known as “brain freeze,” the result is exactly as the name suggests—a shooting head pain that occurs when slurping down a cold drink quickly. It’s suspected the sensation occurs when a strong cold front hits the roof of the mouth, causing an increase in blood flow to an artery in the brain. Migraine sufferers are prone to brain freeze.

If you suffer from headaches of any kind, it’s best to consult your physician for treatment options.