One of the most common complaints of people seeking medical treatment is headaches. A headache is characterized by pain in the head that is located above the eyes (frontal), ears (temporal), or behind the head (occipital), or in the back of the upper neck (cervicogenic). Headaches are generally directly related to both physical and mental stress. There are two classifications of headaches: primary headaches and secondary headaches.

A primary headache is one in which there no underlying cause that can be identified. Primary headaches can include migraine, migraine with aura, tension-type headache, and cluster headache, and account for about 90% of all headaches. Tension-type headaches are the most common of these. Generally, a primary headache isn’t life threatening or permanently disabling, but can be painful and highly prevalent. Primary headaches are idiopathic in nature, meaning the cause is not known. The next classification, secondary headaches are far less common and than primary headaches.

Unlike primary headaches, secondary headaches are indicators of a more serious medical condition. Secondary headaches are most often a result of a minor condition that can be treated, but on occasion it is a symptom of a serious or life-threatening disease. If at all possible, secondary headaches are eliminated by treating the underlying condition.

Treatment of either type of headache is based on symptoms and cause of the headache. A prompt evaluation, soothing environment, and adequate analgesia to relieve the headache are essential. Treatment for any underlying diseases can quickly stops chronic daily headaches. As an alternative to medical treatment, chiropractic adjustments have shown to be as effective in reducing the severity and frequency of headaches.

In summary, headaches are very common. In fact, most of the world population will have a headache at some point. Headaches are for the most part a result of innocuous conditions like muscle tension, stress, or anxiety. Headaches are considered either primary or secondary depending on the causal factors. A primary headache is on that is generally not caused by an underlying medical condition. While secondary headaches are caused by disease or medical condition.

Headaches, depending on its intensity, can be so severe that it becomes debilitating. Chronic attacks of these types of headaches can result in a greatly compromised quality of life. Chronic headache attacks can cause one to miss important days from school or work and may also impede individuals from spending precious time with loved ones and can even hinder social obligations. It is very important to get the correct diagnosis for the cause of the headaches and get the proper treatment and headache cure.

In cases like these, it is extremely helpful to acquire the habit of taking note of one’s headache with the use of a headache diary. The importance of correctly diagnosing the root cause of the headache cannot be stressed enough because it is not only important to get the right treatment and cure but sometimes, headaches are symptoms of much more serious health problems.

Although headaches are pretty common and millions upon millions of individuals worldwide actually suffer from chronic to occasional headaches, there is no reason to take this lightly. There a few severe headache causes out there that are pretty common, like cluster headaches, sinus headaches and migraine. While all these are benign or are headaches that are not fatal, the chronic attacks from these produce episodes of debilitated lives and this not need be the case.

There are a number of very effective headache cures out there for even the most stubborn and severe chronic headache. More often than not, the reason why headache cures don’t work is that an individual may be taking incorrect medication.

For instance, studies have proven that countless individuals complain that sinus headache cures don’t work on them and this is clearly because most people who think they suffer from sinus headaches are actually suffering from migraine. This is why the headache cure they are taking do not work.

Taking note and logging details about your headache attacks can help you relate and recall your headaches better for proper physician diagnosis. What’s more is that a headache diary is a wonderful way for you to be able to notice patterns that you may not have noticed before.

Furthermore, keeping a headache journal can help the individual become more aware of things that are happening that he or she may not take note of if not for the headache diary. Keeping a headache diary handy is the first step to the very important headache cure and treatment because this will help you and your doctor correctly diagnose what the problem really is.

If you’ve ever had a bad migraine, you know that regular pain killers just don’t help dull the pain. Luckily, there are medications specifically designed to treat migraines. In fact, there are three different types of medications for people with migraines. There are medications that prevent the onset of these painful vascular headaches, medications that treat migraines after they start and medications that help control symptoms that migraines can cause.

Preventative medications are wonderful when they work. Imagine being able to stop that blinding pain before it even starts. Three popular preventative prescriptions are cataflam, lodine and ansaid.

Abortive medications can help stop a migraine after it has already begun. Some common abortive medications are ibuprofen, ketaprofen, naproxen, ergotamine tartrate, rizatriptan and frovatriptan.

Symptomatic medications have been developed to help control nausea and vomiting that have been caused by migraines. Common symptomatic medications include throazine, compazine, tigran, phenergan and reglan.

Usually, a medication that is prescribed most often is the most effective choice. Triptans are prescribed more frequently than any other type of migraine medication. They work by targeting the blood vessels in your skull to alleviate pressure. With less pressure, the pain is alleviated.

If you need immediate relief for migraines, you may be interested in some of the over the counter (OTC) remedies available. Ibuprofen, Tylenol and aspirin are the most popular OTC choices for treating migraines without a prescription. These drugs can help relieve a bit of the pain associated with a migraine and can also help control nausea and vomiting. However, these medications should only be used for occassional migraines. If you have chronic migraines, be sure you talk to your doctor about additional treatment options.

One new, effective method doctors are using to treat migraines is the nasal spray. When you use a medication that is transmitted through nasal spray, you get the treatment right into your bloodstream, which brings relief much more quickly than oral medications. In addition, nasal sprays help you avoid vomiting from the added upset of oral medication going into an already touchy stomach. Imitrex is one of the most well known nasal migraine sprays.

Even if you prefer to avoid prescription medications, if you have had a migraine that lasted longer than 48 hours or have frequent migraines, you should make an appointment with your doctor to see if he or she recommends that you try a prescription migraine medication to alleviate your symptoms or to lessen the number of migraines you have. In fact, you should also see your doctor even if you are only planning to take OTC medication for your migraine, since you could have an allergy to one of them.

A migraine is a whole lot more than just a simple headache. Everyone who has suffered from a migraine at one point or the other in their lives knows how terrible it can be. In the United States almost 10% or more of the entire population suffer from headaches and migraines. Migraines are usually characterized by a throbbing pain which usually occurs on one side of a person’s head. Migraines can cause a lot of other things such as nausea and certain sensitivity to light and sound too.

Symptoms of migraines may differ according to the individual being affected. These migraines and can last also anywhere from four hours up to several days. A lot of sufferers usually report a migraine attack that tends to occur in three phases which are: pre-headache, headache and the post-headache period. Both the beginning and final stages tend to last for a number of days in certain sufferers. A lot of these sufferers exhibit migraines with certain associated symptoms such as body aches, fatigue, mood swings, muscle tenderness, neck and shoulder tension.

These individuals may also experience “aura” which is characterized by light flashes which are followed by blind spots, zigzag lines and numbness in certain areas of the limbs as well as the neck and face. These most severe symptoms are usually experienced in at least 1 out of 3 of the people who suffer from migraines. Aura symptoms may last a considerably shorter period than real migraines and this period is usually up to an hour or less depending on the situation.

Different things happen during the course of a migraine but when it happens it may be due to the fact that the body releases a great amount of serotonin. This release of serotonin may cause an interaction between the trigeminal nerve and a number of blood vessels in the brain. A number of the pain processing regions in the body become overloaded and the feeling that results is a certain level of skin sensitivity on the scalp and head of an individual.

No direct reason exists for the occurrence of migraines there are different things that may also cause the start of a migraine headache. Each patient that suffers from a migraine is different from the other so are the different reasons for the migraines: diet, excessive hunger, severe weather changes such as when the air pressure suddenly dips or rises, activity, environment, emotions, medications, and hormones. Genetics and heredity also prove a factor in the predisposition of individuals to suffer from these migraines.

As soon as a patient has successfully indentified what causes their migraines they should take the necessary measures to avoid these causes. Some of these measures may include the taking of medicine to reduce the effects of the migraines.

If a patient is aware that they tend to suffer from repeat occurrences of migraines then they have a wide number of treatment options available to them.

Preventative care as a treatment method is important in reducing the number of attacks that a sufferer suffers from. A thorough study of the triggers of migraines in different people is important in order to help the patient better understand their migraines, and how they can deal with them. Medication that is taken on a daily basis is usually efficient in reducing the amount of attacks that occur as well as the severity of these attacks. Some of these techniques that reduce the severity of this attack include relaxation techniques, sleeping and eating properly as well as regular exercise. Massage therapy is also useful in the prevention of migraines as well as the ability of individuals to cope with the pain that is caused by migraines.

Another form of therapy known as Acute Therapy helps treat the symptoms after the attack has already started. Different sorts of drugs are available and they are all able to treat attacks of different relative strengths. Other forms of therapy such as massage, acupuncture and heat and cold applications also treat migraines with some degree of effectiveness.

When it comes to migraines, caffeine is one strange drug. The headache associated with a migraine needs to be triggered. This trigger can come in many forms: certain foods, weather conditions, lighting. One of the triggers is too much caffeine consumption. And yet the pain of migraines can also be lessened by ingesting caffeine. Talk about your two way streets!

The number one cause of migraines that are related to caffeine consumption is caffeine withdrawal. The good news is that this presents two methods of using caffeine to actually prevent migraines. The first method is the least difficult in theory, but probably the most difficult in practice: reducing the amount of caffeine you take in. If you don’t take in a lot of caffeine, you don’t suffer much in the way of withdrawal symptoms. It sounds easy because all you have to do is cut down on the caffeine. But saying you’re going to cut your caffeine and actually going through with it are two different things.

There is another method and though it sounds more difficult, in practice it’s probably a lot easier than cutting down completely. The second method is all about ensuring that withdrawal never becomes a problem. You can do this by timing your intake of caffeine over time. If you ingest a certain amount of caffeine at specific intervals throughout the day your body will be satisfied and keep the migraine headache at bay.

Some migraine sufferers have been tempted to go cold turkey and engage in complete and utter caffeine abstinence. This sounds like a pretty good idea. But, let’s face it, abstinence always sounds better than it actually turns out. Theoretically, there is absolutely no downside to the abstinence program; it’s only when you start applying it to the real world that you get in trouble. For one thing, caffeine is addictive. The more you get, the more you want. And many times this urge is just too overwhelming.

An even bigger obstacle is that it’s almost impossible to completely abstain from caffeine unless you are detail-oriented to the point of psychosis. If you are planning on abstaining from caffeine as a means of staving off migraines, you’re going to have to do more than simply give up your coffee or soft drinks. Caffeine is everywhere in today’s society. You’ll have to keep a watchful eye on the ingredients of chocolate candy, pain-relief medicine and diet pills. And that’s just the start. You can also add such things as liqueurs, energy drinks and even pudding to the list!

By this point you may rethinking that whole idea of keeping track of your ingestion. The timing schedule sounds more difficult, but consider this: would you rather keep track of how often your ingest caffeine over the course of a day, or keep track of the thousands of products that contain caffeine?

The caffeine infusion method simply means that you keep count of how often and how much caffeine you put into your body. Once you figure out how much you need and when you need, your migraines should become a memory. Provided, of course, of that you have determined that caffeine is your migraine trigger. There are some tips to make this process easier.

First off, if your primary delivery system for caffeine is coffee, you’re in for some bad news. Determining how much caffeine you are getting in a single cup of coffee is almost impossible and in this method you really want to be precise. Therefore, computing the caffeine figures is easier if you get your caffeine by way of either soft drinks or caffeine tablets. Which of those you prefer is up to you. Some people don’t like soda, so the tablet is a better way to go.

On the other hand, most people probably prefer to get their caffeine along with a little liquid refreshment. Whichever means you decide on, here’s what you do next. Keep a little diary in which you note when and how much caffeine you consumed, along with information about any headaches you got; things such as time of day, how long the headache lasted, how severe it was, etc. This information will be your guide in determining when and how often you need that caffeine to keep the migraines away.

Most of you who get headaches know exactly why you get them. As adults, you have tracked it and know. If you haven’t tracked it, then your friends and family have, believe me, and they know!

Sometimes headaches can be debilitating, and at other times they are just an annoyance. Either way, having a headache steals your time and productivity.

To keep from consuming aspirin as a food group, start dealing with your headaches. Here are some areas you can proactively attend to:

1. Lighting. Get an excellent desk lamp for your primary workspace. Use enough light (and the right kind of light) when you’re trying to read and work. What you might have been able to do when you were 14 (reading with a flashlight under the covers or writing poetry to the love of your life by flickering candles) is not as wise as you mature! Also be aware of glare, both inside and outside. Invest in good sunglasses and get the right shades/blinds for windows near your workspace.
2. Foods. If you think there’s any pattern to the foods you eat and your headaches, keep a food diary until you determine the culprit(s).
3. Varying weather. While this is a tough one to avoid, it’s possible that a sinus pill just as the weather is changing might be helpful to you.
4. Certain people. You know who your “headache people” are. Be truthful. Maybe you have one in your office–avoid that person whenever possible or at least minimize your interactions. If you have one in your house…ouch! See about getting that person out of your house (your 28-year old son really should have a place of his own and a job. Just a thought).
5. Particular situations. Sometimes you get headaches during the “lead-up” to a situation or maybe it’s the “decompression” period after a particular event. What can you do to get a handle on your responses to these situations? Be aware and be proactive.
6. Sleep. This one has varying issues for some headache-prone folks. For you, it may be lack of sleep. Or, maybe you are someone who needs to follow the advice that you should sleep the same hours every night, rather than getting your 6 or 7 or 8 hours at varying times each night. Do what you can to get the sleep (and the right kind of sleep) that will support a headache-free life.
7. Head in the sand behavior. Sometimes, you give yourself headaches by *not* dealing with what needs to be addressed. Susan Scott, in her incredible bookFierce Conversations, uses this question with her clients: “What are you pretending not to know?” Answer that and see if taking the appropriate action will make a difference.
8. Toxic work environment. Feel free to take this one both ways, i.e., literallyworking in an environment that is chemically toxic (air, ceiling, walls, etc.), or in the figurative sense of toxicity of the people and unhealthy energy in the environment. Life is too short. Make a change.
9. Health. Do you need to take a vitamin, see the doctor, or get some exercise? There are organic reasons that you get headaches sometimes…and a simple diagnosis and action can stop the headache time thieves.
10. Smells & scents. My previous assistant’s daughter was trained to say “Hold your breath, Mom!” when they passed the perfume counter in certain stores. If you are one of the people who is deeply affected by certain scents, do what you can to avoid being in the environment where those scents waft about.

As mentioned above, if you don’t know what your “triggers” are, ask those who have been around you for any length of time. They will tell you if you ask. Your friends, colleagues, and loved ones don’t want your time, energy, and productivity stolen by headaches.

If you suffer from migraine there is nothing more comforting than finding a migraine headache cure to end your woes. Migraine prevents you from properly engaging with your regular activities due to the nagging pain in your head. However, just as any sickness has a treatment, migraine headache can be alleviated using some of the methods below.

There are generally two types of migraine headache cures: natural and medicinal. Natural cures are usually pursued when the migraine are still manifesting its symptoms. You do not have to worry about suffering from debilitating side-effects, which are associated with medicinal drugs, when using natural cures because they do not involve the intake of drugs. Also, this type of migraine cure is cost-effective, since almost all of the methods can be done without having to pay for expensive medication prescribed by your doctor.

When you feel that you are about to experience a migraine headache, take action and prevent it from happening by getting some rest. Overexertion is one of the chief causes of migraine, so try to avoid engaging in physical activity at the onset of migraine symptoms. Accompany your rest by holding a cold compress on the part of your head experiencing throbbing pain. Pursue a healthier diet during this period, such as drinking fruit juices to detoxify your body, and cutting down on the intake of food products containing caffeine, known to increase the frequency of the headaches. Lastly, give yourself a light massage for a relaxed, peaceful state of mind.

The disadvantage in pursuing natural migraine headache cures is that cures can be limited and hit and miss. Natural cures can be highly effective at preventing a migraine, but once the migraine starts, natural cures may not adequately treat symptoms. This is where medicinal cures come to the fore. Migraine headache are believed to occur because of narrowing of the blood vessels, which leads to a lack of blood flow in the vessels of your brain. What these medicines do is penetrate deep into the brain and gradually decrease the migraine until it restores your bodily functions, totally getting rid of the headache.

If your migraine is just in its primary stages, you can use anti-inflammatory, non-steroidal drugs, which serve to disrupt the production of prostaglandin, which is the cause of pain and fever, in the body. There are many functions that an anti-inflammatory drug does to a body, but in this case, it prevents the clotting of the blood that causes the headache. There are different kinds of medicinal cure such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and naproxen, among many others. However, if this type of medicinal cure does not work, more potent and capable serotonin receptor drugs are usually prescribed. Dihydroergotamine and ergotamine are two of the most reliable serotonin receptor drugs that are used for preventive measures.

Although using this type of migraine headache cures may harbor immediate results, it can also lead to long-term damages and side-effects. There are certain drugs that produce allergic reactions to a person, so you must be wary and proceed with caution before even planning to take these drugs.

Statistics from The National Headache Foundation have proven that as many as 28 million Americans suffer from migraine headaches. Those with this headache problem usually had started with the headaches anywhere from the age of 10 right up to 46. Migraines may also run in families.

More women than men will suffer from migraines, with approximately 25% suffering 4 or more attacks a month, approximately 35% will have 1-4 attacks, and approximately 40% will suffer 1, or less than 1 per month. These attacks can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days, or even longer. Studies have shown that pregnancy may reduce the number of migraine attacks. At least 60% of pregnant women with a history of migraines had fewer attacks during the last two trimesters of pregnancy.

Migraines, simply defined, are headaches that occur primarily on one side of the head, and are accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and a sensitivity to light.

There are two classifications of migraine headaches, those without “aura” (no warning symptoms), and those with “aura” (visual disturbances before the headache begins). An “aura” is a group of neurological symptoms (usually vison disturbances) that serve as a warning sign. These visual warning signs typically are a flash of brightly colored, or blinking lights, tempory vision loss, or blind spots.

Prior to the 1980′s it was believed that migraines were the result of changes to the blood vessels within the brain. Today it is believed that the attacks are caused be abnormalities in certain areas of the brain itself.

Many migraines are “triggered” by external factors. Some of these factors may be:

• Bright lights
• Loud noises
• Certain odors, including perfumes
• Caffeine
• Physical or emotional stress
• Allergic reactions
• Alcohol
• Some chemicals or preservatives found in food
• Changes in the weather
• Fluctuations in the menstrul cycle
• Birth control pills
• Skipping meals
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Excessive fatigue

Some pre-existing medical conditions are also commonly associated with migraines. A couple of examples would be: asthma, stroke, chronic fatigue, and hypertension. Also, as previously mentioned, these headaches are hereditary, with 4 out of 5 migraine sufferers having a family history of these headaches.

Should you believe that you are someone who is prone to migraine headaches, speak to, and work with your doctor regarding the best way to approach an effective treatment plan.

There are many different brands of headache medicines on the market today. For this reason you may have to try a few different headache medicines in order to find the one that will work best for you.

There are several different brands of headache medicines available. The most common ones are aspirin, acetaminophen and ibuprofen. You will discover that these medications will enable you to deal with your headache’s symptoms. The symptoms that they are meant to counter include pain and nausea.

Abortive therapy is another form of treatment that is available. This treatment can help stop a migraine whereas other brands of headache medicines cannot. These headaches occur whenever your brain’s blood vessels dilate or contract, causing a pulsing feeling in your head. However, only doctors will be able to prescribe you these type of headache medicines. Ergotamine derivatives and triptane drugs are most commonly used to treat headaches.

The medicines for headaches are preventative therapy treatment. These brands of headache medicines must be taken regularly in order to prevent migraines from even occurring. There are several different brands of headache medicines that a doctor may prescribe here. Usually antidepressants such as Zoloft, Paxil and Elavil will be used first. If you are getting frequent migraines then your doctor may prescribe a beta-blocker. Beta blockers are able to eliminate the pain signals that migraines may cause. Sometimes calcium channel blockers and anti-epileptic medicines are used. These are usually used in more serious cases though.

You should know that prolonged usage can result in rebound headaches. These occur whenever you use medication to relieve headache pain for more than 2 days. Unfortunately, if you get this type of headache you cannot take any medication as the headache will only last longer with the more medication that you take. They can be caused by any anti-headache medication. This is important to understand before you start taking medicine to ease the pain. It is an unfortunate side effect.

If you find it necessary to take medicines, then you need to make sure that you follow the directions on your headache medicine exactly as stated on your prescription bottle. Your doctor should be made aware of all of the medications that you are on too. This way he can make sure that your headache medication will act properly.

Headaches can interrupt your life and can be exhausting. After a day with a headache, all you may want to do is go in a room, curl up in a ball, and go to sleep. However, life and family responsibilities do not always allow this to happen. How can you effectively deal with a headache? Here are ten tips designed to help you get headache relief.

1. If possible, spend half an hour in a cool, dark room in a quiet part of your home. If you have children, ask another adult to play quietly with them away from the room or take them out of the house for a short while. Take time to close your eyes and if you drift off to sleep, great.
2. Put a cool cloth on your forehead or over your eyes for ten minutes. Many people find this soothing and studies have shown that this simple action can alleviate a headache.
3. Have a cup of coffee or tea. Caffeine can help ease the pain of a headache. In fact, many over the counter headache remedies contain caffeine for this reason. A simple pick-me up may be just what you need.
4. Use pressure points to alleviate your headaches. There are many pressure points on the head that respond immediately when the correct pressure is applied. If you live with a partner, you can study these pressure points together.
5. Avoid smoking or tobacco smoke. This can aggravate headaches. Exposure to tobacco smoke on a regular basis can trigger headaches.
6. Drink one or two glasses of water. Many headaches are caused by dehydration. Simply drinking some water at the onset of a headache can do wonders to alleviate your headache.
7. Open the windows. Stale, stagnant air can trigger headaches. The fresh air and sunshine may help to provide you headache relief.
8. Have your eyes checked. You may need to get glasses or have your prescription increased. There are many eye centers in popular shopping areas that can do a complete vision screen in less than an hour.
9. Take a daily multi-vitamin. Studies have shown that many of the people who regularly experience chronic headaches are deficient in magnesium. This mineral allows blood vessels to relax, which prevents headaches.
10. Keep a headache journal. This will allow you to recognize patterns and triggers for your headaches. You can take this journal with you to the doctor when you discuss your headaches. This information will provide your doctor with a very clear picture of your symptoms

As you learn more about your headaches, you may find that some treatments work better for you than others. Once you know your triggers, you may even be able to prevent your headaches from occurring as regularly.