Headaches are described as a pain in any area of your head. They may occur on one or both sides of your head, be isolated to one location, have a viselike or squeezing quality, or radiate from one point on the head. They may appear as a sharp pain, a dull ache, or a throbbing sensation. Headaches may come on all of a sudden or develop slowly over time. They can last less than an hour to several days. Most headaches are not the result of a serious underlying condition, but some may be and might require additional care by a medical professional.
Types of Headaches
Headaches are basically classified into two different types. The classification headaches are put in depends on where a headache is coming from. The two types are primary and secondary. Let’s take a closer look at each of these and find out what they are.
Primary headaches: These headaches are simply due to head pain itself, not another underlying condition. They are caused by a problem with or overactivity of the pain-sensitive structures in your head. Primary headaches are often due to chemical activity in the brain, muscles, or blood vessels and nerves surrounding your head and neck. Sometimes it is a combination of these that causes headaches. In some cases, people have genes that make them more likely to develop such headaches.
There are three main types:
- Migraines
- Tension
- Cluster
- Trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TAC) — such as cluster headaches and paroxysmal hemicrania
There are a few patterns of headaches that are also considered to be primary, but they are not as common as the ones listed above. They have distinct features such as pain associated with a particular activity, or they last an unusual length of time. The following are usually considered primary headaches, but it is important to note that they may be due to an underlying issue:
- Cough headaches
- Exercise headaches
- Sex headaches
- Chronic daily headaches — such as chronic tension-type headaches or hemicranias continua
Primary headaches can be due to certain lifestyle factors.
- Skipped meals leading to low blood sugar
- Stress
- Poor posture
- Alcohol — especially red wine
- Certain foods — processed meats, MSG, aspartame, chocolate
- Changes in sleep patterns or lack of sleep
Secondary headaches:
Secondary headaches are the result of an underlying disease that activates the pain-sensitive nerves in the head. There is a large list of things that can cause secondary headaches. Here are just a few:
- Venous thrombosis or a blood clot in the brain — not the same as a stroke
- Carbon monoxide poisoning
- A structural problem at the base of the skull called Chiari malformation
- A bulge in the artery of your brain, also called a brain aneurysm
- Sinus infection
- Arterial tears — carotid or vertebral dissections
- Brain AVM — an abnormal formation of brain blood vessels
- Dental problems
- Concussion
- Ear infections
- Dehydration
- Brain tumor
- Meningitis
- Certain medications
- Hangovers
- Glaucoma
- Encephalitis
- Giant cell arteritis
- Intracranial hematoma
- High blood pressure
- Panic attacks
- Pressure from headgear — goggles or helmet
- Influenza
- MSG — monosodium glutamate
- Overuse of pain medications
- Stroke
- Panic disorder
- Trigeminal neuralgia and other neuralgias that involve the nerves of the face and brain
- Toxoplasmosis
- Increased pressure in the skull called pseudotumor cerebri or idiopathic intracranial hypertension
- Post-concussion syndrome
While these are things that can cause secondary headaches, the following are types of secondary headaches:
- Ice cream headaches or brain freeze
- Rebound headaches from overuse of pain medication
- Spinal headaches due to low pressure or volume of cerebrospinal fluid
- Thunderclap headaches — a group of disorders that involve sudden, severe headaches with multiple causes
- External compression headaches due to some type of weight on the head from headgear
SNOOP for Headaches
Here is a quick and easy way to find out if you are having a primary or a secondary headache. Use the acronym SNOOP:
S — systemic signs and symptoms: fever, weight loss, abnormal blood tests, history of cancer
N — neurologic exam: If this is abnormal (abnormal speech, confusion, abnormal gait, dizziness), a secondary headache should be ruled out.
O — onset: If the onset is sudden, it may be due to an aneurysm or a bleed, meaning a secondary headache. If it takes under two weeks, it may point to an illness like meningitis. If it came on longer than 6 months ago, this is a benign headache and should not cause worry.
O — onset of age: If under age 5 or over age 50, a secondary headache should be ruled out. Those over 50 may need an MRI of the brain.
P — progressive: This is a headache that gets worse over time. Even if you already have migraines, you can still get an aneurysm or a tumor and should be looked into by a medical professional.
Finding Help for Any Headache Type
Headaches are no fun to deal with. The underlying cause can often lie just at the base of the skull. If either of the top bones of your neck is misaligned, you may be experiencing either primary or secondary headaches. This is due to a few different things. A misaligned bone can put pressure on the brainstem, leading to improper signals being sent to the brain. The bones can also act as a kind of blockage to the flow of cerebrospinal fluid and blood leaving and entering the brain. This can lead to too little or too much of these fluids being in the brain.
Here at N8 Upper Cervical, we use a low-impact method to help the bones realign themselves more naturally that forcing them by popping or cracking the spine. This is often all that is needed to help you get relief from primary and secondary headaches.
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