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Healthwatch: Understanding Headache Pain
Story Number: NNS030606-14
Release Date: 6/8/2003 7:03:00 PM
By Aveline V. Allen, Bureau of Medicine & Surgery
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Does the throbbing pain of a headache interfere with your daily lifestyle?
Now is the time to educate yourself and your loved ones who may suffer with headaches, as the nation observes National Headache Week June 1-7.
According to the American Council for Headache Education (ACHE), during this last year, at least 90 percent of men and 95 percent of women have experienced at least one headache.
Headaches are classified in two general categories, primary and secondary. Primary headaches, which account for more than 90 percent of all headaches, are those that occur alone, not associated with other health-related problems. These include tension-type, migraine and cluster headaches.
The second type, secondary headaches, are the result of certain medical conditions, like an infection, tumor, head injury or blood vessel problems. According to the ACHE, these headaches account for less than 10 percent of all headaches.
Taking over-the-counter pain relievers may not always be the answer to relieving headaches.
“Excessive use of short-acting analgesics, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, can increase the frequency of headaches,” said Cmdr. George McKenna, head of neurology at National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md. “These are called ‘analgesic rebound headaches’ and are likely to occur if patients use these medications to treat headaches as frequently as 15 days per month.”
He cautions that if you are using headache pain relievers more than 15 days a month, you should get medical attention.
The most common of headaches is the tension-type, associated with an ongoing ache, which affects both sides of your head. Headache statistics show that nearly 75 percent of all people suffer from tension-type headaches. In addition, 90 percent of adults have experienced this type of headache. These headaches may also be related to stressful events, a hectic workday, and may even become chronic.
Although tension-type headaches may be a painful discomfort to you, migraine headaches can be even more painful or uncomfortable. They are less common than tension-type headaches, but affect approximately 25 to 30 million persons in the United States, according to the ACHE.
These headaches are characterized by a possible disabling factor, which may include certain symptoms before the actual onset of the headache. These include aura, or neurological symptoms, such as changes in vision in which you experience a pattern of flashing or brightly colored lights across your visual field. Migraine headaches, which mostly occur on one side of the head in a throbbing pain, can also be accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light. The ACHE reports that at least 6 percent of men and 18 percent of women suffer from migraines.
For more information on headaches, visit the ACHE Web site at www.achenet.org.
For related news, visit the Navy Medicine Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/mednews.
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