Cluster Headaches

Cluster headache (CH) is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent, severe headaches on one side of the head, typically around the eye. There is often accompanying eye watering, nasal congestion, or swelling around the eye, on the affected side. This can last for 15 minutes to 3 hours.Attacks often occur in clusters. Risk factors include a history of exposure to tobacco smoke and a family history of the condition. The symptoms of Cluster headache are as follows:

  • sudden onset of pain, generally around the eye
  • pain builds to a peak in about 10 to 15 minutes
  • restlessness or agitation
  • red or watering eyes
  • nasal congestion
  • sweating on the forehead
  • eyelid drooping or swelling

Tension Headaches

Tension headache, is the most common type of primary headache. The pain can radiate from the lower back of the head, the neck, eyes, or other muscle groups in the body typically affecting both sides of the head. Tension-type headache pain is often described as a constant pressure, as if the head were being squeezed. The pain is frequently present on both sides of the head at the same time. Tension-type headache pain is typically mild to moderate, but may be severe.

Tension-type headaches can be episodic or chronic. Tension-type headaches can last from minutes to days, months or even years, though a typical tension headache lasts 4–6 hours. Tension-type headaches may be caused by

  • Stress
  • Sleep deprivation
  • Uncomfortable stressful position and/or bad posture
  • Irregular meal time (hunger)
  • Eyestrain
  • Muscle tension around the head and neck

Migraine Headaches

Migraine is a condition marked by recurring moderate to severe headache with throbbing pain that usually lasts from four hours to three days, typically begins on one side of the head but may spread to both sides, is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light or sound, and is sometimes preceded by an aura and is often followed by fatigue. This throbbing type of headache is distinguished by the fact that symptoms other than pain occur with the headache. Nausea and vomiting, lightheadedness, sensitivity to light (photophobia), and other visual disturbances are common migraine symptoms.

Sinus headache

Sinuses are air-filled spaces inside forehead, cheekbones, and behind the bridge of nose. When they get inflamed by an allergic reaction or an infection, they swell, make more mucus, and the channels that drain them can get blocked. This builds a pressure inside the sinuses. The build-up of pressure in sinuses causes pain that feels like a headache. Sinus headache is associated with a deep and constant pain in the cheekbones, forehead, or bridge of the nose. The pain usually gets worse with sudden head movement or straining and occurs with other acute sinus symptoms, such as nasal discharge, foul taste in the mouth, feeling of fullness in the ears, fever, facial swelling, and pain over the involved sinuses.

Head Injury

A head injury is a broad term that describes a vast array of injuries that occur to the scalp, skull, brain, and underlying tissue and blood vessels in the head. Head injuries are also commonly referred to as brain injury, or traumatic brain injury (TBI), depending on the extent of the head trauma.

Mild head injury

  • raised, swollen area from a bump or a bruise
  • small, superficial (shallow) cut in the scalp
  • headache
  • sensitivity to noise and light
  • irritability
  • confusion
  • lightheadedness and/or dizziness
  • problems with balance
  • nausea
  • problems with memory and/or concentration
  • change in sleep patterns
  • blurred vision
  • "tired"eyes
  • ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
  • alteration in taste
  • fatigue/lethargy

Moderate to severe head injury (requires immediate medical attention) - symptoms may include any of the above plus

  • loss of consciousness
  • severe headache that does not go away
  • repeated nausea and vomiting
  • loss of short-term memory, such as difficulty remembering the events that led right up to and through the traumatic event
  • slurred speech
  • difficulty with walking
  • weakness in one side or area of the body
  • sweating
  • pale skin color
  • seizures or convulsions
  • behavior changes including irritability
  • blood or clear fluid draining from the ears or nose
  • one pupil (dark area in the center of the eye) looks larger than the other eye
  • deep cut or laceration in the scalp
  • open wound in the head
  • foreign object penetrating the head
  • coma (a state of unconsciousness from which a person cannot be awakened; responds only minimally, if at all, to stimuli; and exhibits no voluntary activities)
  • vegetative state (a condition of brain damage in which a person has lost his thinking abilities and awareness of his surroundings, but retains some basic functions such as breathing and blood circulation)
  • locked-in syndrome (a neurological condition in which a person is conscious and can think and reason, but cannot speak or move)