A headache is a painful sensation that can be felt in different areas in the head. Besides feeling a headache in the temples, forehead, and other areas of the head, it is common to feel pain in the face, throat, and mouth because of the nerve endings that radiate pain to other areas of the body. In order to learn how to treat a headache, you need to understand what type of headache you have.

Tension headaches - Most headaches are called a tension headache because they are caused from a muscle contraction. Tension headaches can last for a few hours or they can be chronic and happen often. Usually you can go about performing the rest of your daily activities when you have a tension headache.

Primary headaches - This type of headache groups several different types of headaches together. Normally primary headaches include tension headaches, migraines, and cluster headaches.

• Migraines. These are one of the worst types of headaches. They start as a normal headache and quickly radiate to an intense throbbing and stronger pain along with other problems like sensitivity to light, dizziness, nausea, and sensitivity to sounds and odors. If someone in your family is prone to migraines, you are at an increased risk of developing them as well. Females are more prone to migraines than males and about 28 million Americans currently suffer from migraines.


• Cluster headaches. Cluster headaches are considered the most severe type of headache. Unlike a migraine, they tend to have a constant throbbing pain in addition to a piercing or burning sensation. The pain in intense and it can take several days to feel relief. Some people have found that their cluster headaches start and last for 3 months, dissipate, and then return a few weeks later.

Sinus headaches - A sinus headache is pain and throbbing in the middle of the face, normally around the nose and cheekbones. With sinus headaches, you may have some additional symptoms like facial swelling, fever, and nasal discharge. Having nasal surgery is intended to relief the sinus headaches, but for many suffers the surgery seems to make the pain worse.

There are a number of triggers that can intensify a headache. Stress is one of the leading factors that cause intense headaches. In addition to stress, improper posture, lack of exercise, dental problems, loud sounds, bright lights, alcohol, cigarettes, and injuries can all lead to headaches and migraine attacks. Most over the counter pain killers like Tylenol or Ibuprofen will relieve the pain you feel with a headache. Excedrin is another great medication to try if you have an intense headache that is starting to develop into a migraine. If the headaches continue and you are unable to find relief, one of your best options is to seek medical attention to get a stronger medication like sumatriptan and triptans. There are additional things you will be required to do in addition to taking your medication like introducing a healthy diet to your body, eliminating trigger foods like caffeine and alcohol and exercising daily.

Depending upon the severity of your condition, your doctor may send you for additional testing where you will have an MRI or a CT scan to see if there is damage to the central nervous system. Sometimes headaches are warning signs of extreme circumstances like a brain tumor, optical nerve damage, and other medical problems.