Is It Migraine? Tension-Type Headache? What?

What IS your head pain? How should you treat it?

So. Here it is, another day . . . and another day with head pain. What to do... Migraine abortives... pain medication? sleep? relaxation exercises? It all depends on what kind of head pain you have. It's sometimes hard to tell, and one kind of head pain can trigger another. For example, tension headaches will frequently trigger a Migraine for Migraineurs.

The first step in treating our head pain is to get an accurate diagnosis. This is very important for a couple of reasons:

Head pain can be a symptom of various diseases or physical anomalies such as tumors or aneurysms. A CAT Scan of the sinus cavities to rule out infection is helpful, as is an MRI to rule out tumors, aneurysms, stroke. and other problems. Keep in mind that your doctor may not order such tests immediately. It's quite normal procedure to try treatment first, and do such tests if the treatments fail. Keeping a Migraine and headache diary will also be helpful to you and your doctor for diagnostic and trigger identification purposes.
Treatment methods and medications for different types of head pain vary. For example, the triptan drugs used to treat Migraine (e.g. Imitrex, Maxalt, Zomig, etc.) aren't prescribed for tension-type headache.

Symptoms of the Most Common Headache Disorders?

Migraine:

throbbing, generally moderate to severe
usually one-sided, though the pain can move from side to side, and sometimes affects both sides
pain is often near the eye of the affected side
often disabling
lasts 2 - 72 hours
in some instances, the Migraine may continue long enough to require an emergency room visit, or even hospitalization, so that stronger medications can be given to break the cycle. (Status Migrainous)
often accompanied increased sensitivity to light, sound, and odors as well as nausea, vomiting, and other symptoms
Migraine with aura is experienced by about 25% of Migraineurs is preceded by warning signs called an "aura"