Headache

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Headache is one of the commonest symptoms causing significant distress to patients. Chronic headaches may recur for years and cause economic, social, psychological and physical issues. 90% of the headaches are benign.
Headache includes pain in the area above the neck including the face. Chronic headaches are common and affect about 40 to 45 % of the population. Chronic headaches may be called tension headaches, migrainous or cluster headaches. The pain may be cutting, shearing, burning, dull or sharp, deep or superficial, throbbing, waxing or waning and of many other types.
Tension headaches often produce a band like sensation or tightness in the head. These are not due to tension in the muscles as is commonly believed. These are also not due to “ Tension or Stress”. The exact mechanism is not clear.
Migrainous headaches are usually throbbing, maybe in one half or both sides, usually last for a few hours to 1 or 2 days, and may be relieved by vomiting or sleep. A patient may know few hours before the onset of a headache that he or she is going to get one. These may affect up to 40 % of the population. These can be effectively prevented and decreased by medicines in most patients.
Cluster headaches are rare (about 1% of all headaches), occur in groups occurring daily for a few weeks to months, last for lesser duration (few minutes to 2-3 hours) and are throbbing. These are severely disabling in nature.
Sinus headaches are usually localized to the area around sinuses. These may be aggravated by sniffing or deep breathing.


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