Why Does Your Head Ache?
Headaches can be mild or agonizing, a minor annoyance or an important health issue. Read on for answers to all your headache questions, including why they strike and what you can do to stop them...
What hurts when you have a headache? Several areas of the head can contribute to pain, including a network of nerves that extends over the scalp and certain nerves in the face, mouth and throat. Other contributors are delicate nerve fibers supplying muscles of the head and blood vessels found along the surface and at the base of the brain.
Stress, muscular tension, dilated blood vessels and other headache triggers can activate the ends of the nerves, called nociceptors, because they respond to intense stimulation.
A number of chemicals help transmit nociceptive-related information to the brain. Some of these are natural pain-killing proteins called endorphins, Greek for “the morphine within.” One theory suggests that people who suffer from severe headaches and other types of chronic pain have lower levels of endorphins than people who are generally pain-free.
An estimated 45 million Americans experience chronic headaches.
What are migraine headaches?The most common type of vascular headache (those caused by abnormal function of the brain’s blood vessels or vascular system) is migraine.
Migraine headaches are usually characterized by severe pain on one or both sides of the head, often accompanied by nausea or an upset stomach, sensitivity to light and sound, and at times disturbed vision. Other symptoms of this type of migraine, previously called classic, include speech difficulty, weakness of an arm or leg, tingling of the face or hands, confusion, and the appearance of neurological symptoms 10-30 minutes before the pain starts.These symptoms, called an aura, can include flashing lights or zigzag lines and a temporary loss of vision. Aura symptoms last less than an hour and typically resolve before the head pain begins.
The pain of a classic migraine headache may be described as intense, throbbing or pounding and is felt in the forehead, temple, ear, jaw or around the eye. Migraine starts on one side of the head but may eventually spread to the other side. An attack lasts up to three pain-wracked days. Migraine sufferers may experience a variety of headache presentations, including sinus pain, neck tension and menstrual migraine, or have an aura without headache.
Migraine with the greatest occurrence in the general population is not preceded by an aura. But some people do experience a variety of vague symptoms beforehand, including some mental fuzziness, mood changes, fatigue, and unusual retention of fluids. During the headache phase of a migraine, a person may have diarrhea and increased urination as well as nausea and vomiting. With this type of migraine, pain can last three or four days.
Migraine can strike as often as several times a week or as rarely as once every few years, and it can occur at any time. Some people, however, experience migraines at predictable times – for example, near menstruation or every Saturday morning after a stressful week of work.
What causes migraines?Research scientists are unclear about the precise cause. There seems to be general agreement, however, that key elements are excitability of neurons and blood flow changes in the brain. People who get migraine headaches appear to have blood vessels that overreact to various triggers, including certain foods, strong or glaring light, intense odors, activity, emotions or cigarette smoke.
Triggers are not the same for everyone, and what causes a migraine in one person may relieve it in another. Triggers may be cumulative, and with exposure to multiple triggers, migraine may be more likely to occur.
Peak prevalence for migraine is ages 20-45 for both sexes. Migraine is often hereditary, and people who get migraines are thought to have an inherited abnormality in the regulation of blood vessels. They react abnormally to triggers such as stress and other normal emotions and biological and environmental conditions.
What hurts when you have a headache? Several areas of the head can contribute to pain, including a network of nerves that extends over the scalp and certain nerves in the face, mouth and throat. Other contributors are delicate nerve fibers supplying muscles of the head and blood vessels found along the surface and at the base of the brain.
Stress, muscular tension, dilated blood vessels and other headache triggers can activate the ends of the nerves, called nociceptors, because they respond to intense stimulation.
A number of chemicals help transmit nociceptive-related information to the brain. Some of these are natural pain-killing proteins called endorphins, Greek for “the morphine within.” One theory suggests that people who suffer from severe headaches and other types of chronic pain have lower levels of endorphins than people who are generally pain-free.
An estimated 45 million Americans experience chronic headaches.
What are migraine headaches?The most common type of vascular headache (those caused by abnormal function of the brain’s blood vessels or vascular system) is migraine.
Migraine headaches are usually characterized by severe pain on one or both sides of the head, often accompanied by nausea or an upset stomach, sensitivity to light and sound, and at times disturbed vision. Other symptoms of this type of migraine, previously called classic, include speech difficulty, weakness of an arm or leg, tingling of the face or hands, confusion, and the appearance of neurological symptoms 10-30 minutes before the pain starts.These symptoms, called an aura, can include flashing lights or zigzag lines and a temporary loss of vision. Aura symptoms last less than an hour and typically resolve before the head pain begins.
The pain of a classic migraine headache may be described as intense, throbbing or pounding and is felt in the forehead, temple, ear, jaw or around the eye. Migraine starts on one side of the head but may eventually spread to the other side. An attack lasts up to three pain-wracked days. Migraine sufferers may experience a variety of headache presentations, including sinus pain, neck tension and menstrual migraine, or have an aura without headache.
Migraine with the greatest occurrence in the general population is not preceded by an aura. But some people do experience a variety of vague symptoms beforehand, including some mental fuzziness, mood changes, fatigue, and unusual retention of fluids. During the headache phase of a migraine, a person may have diarrhea and increased urination as well as nausea and vomiting. With this type of migraine, pain can last three or four days.
Migraine can strike as often as several times a week or as rarely as once every few years, and it can occur at any time. Some people, however, experience migraines at predictable times – for example, near menstruation or every Saturday morning after a stressful week of work.
What causes migraines?Research scientists are unclear about the precise cause. There seems to be general agreement, however, that key elements are excitability of neurons and blood flow changes in the brain. People who get migraine headaches appear to have blood vessels that overreact to various triggers, including certain foods, strong or glaring light, intense odors, activity, emotions or cigarette smoke.
Triggers are not the same for everyone, and what causes a migraine in one person may relieve it in another. Triggers may be cumulative, and with exposure to multiple triggers, migraine may be more likely to occur.
Peak prevalence for migraine is ages 20-45 for both sexes. Migraine is often hereditary, and people who get migraines are thought to have an inherited abnormality in the regulation of blood vessels. They react abnormally to triggers such as stress and other normal emotions and biological and environmental conditions.
By Yvette Colon, MSW, & Terrie Cowley, Special to Lifescript
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