5 unusual headaches: Signs to watch for and what to do

Headaches come in lots of varieties, and some are easily recognizable. A migraine classically causes throbbing, pounding pain that lasts for hours — sometimes even days — on one side of the head. A tension headache usually feels like a tight band squeezing around your noggin. And a sinus headache shows up as pressure on one side of the face, behind the nose, or above one eye when you have a sinus infection. Some headaches, however, aren’t as well-known. What’s happening to me? When less familiar headache pain strikes, the symptoms or patterns may be puzzling, or even frightening. For example, a thunderclap headache (also called “the worst headache of your life”) causes sudden, intense, debilitating pain that can last for an hour or a week. Here are five other unusual headaches. Orgasmic headache. Some people experience the sudden onset of a severe head pain similar to that of a thunderclap headache just before or at the time of sexual orgasm. Although usually no underlying problem is found, it should prompt a call to your doctor to be sure. Ice-pick headache. The vivid image of this headache identifies its main characteristic: sudden, brief, and severe stabs of pain to the head. Ice-pick headaches are so fleeting that they’re over long before any medication could take effect. This type of headache generally affects people who already suffer from migraines or cluster headaches. New daily persistent headache. Doctors call this headache “new” because it develo...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Brain and cognitive health Headache Pain Management Source Type: blogs