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Headaches
A headache or cephalalgia is pain anywhere in the region of the head or neck. It can be a symptom of a number of different conditions of the head and neck. The brain tissue itself is not sensitive to pain because it lacks pain receptors. Rather, the pain is caused by disturbance of the pain-sensitive structures around the brain. Nine areas of the head and neck have these pain-sensitive structures, which are the cranium (the periosteum of the skull), muscles, nerves, arteries and veins, subcutaneous tissues, eyes, ears, sinuses and mucous membranes.
There are a number of different classification systems for headaches. The well-recognized is that of the International Headache Society. Headache is a non-specific symptom, which means that it has many possible causes. Treatment of a headache depends on the underlying etiology or cause, but commonly involves analgesics.
There are over 200 types of headaches, and the causes range from harmless to life-threatening. The description of the headache, together with findings on neurological examination, determines the need for any further investigations and the most appropriate treatment.The most common types of headache are the "primary headache disorders", such as tension-type headache and migraine. They have typical features; migraine, for example, tends to be pulsating in character, affecting one side of the head, associated with nausea, disabling in severity, and usually lasts between 3 hours and 3 days. Rarer primary headache disorders are trigeminal neuralgia (a shooting face pain), cluster headache (severe pains that occur together in bouts), and hemicrania continua (a continuous headache on one side of the head).
Chronic headaches
In recurrent unexplained headaches keeping a "headache diary" with entries on type of headache, associated symptoms, precipitating and aggravating factors may be helpful. This may reveal specific patterns, such as an association with medication, menstruation or absenteeism or with certain foods. It was reported in March 2007 by two separate teams of researchers that stimulating the brain with implanted electrodes appears to help ease the pain of cluster headaches.
Acupuncture has been found to be beneficial in chronic headaches of both tension type and migraine type. Research comparing acupuncture to 'sham' acupuncture has shown that the results of acupuncture may be due to the placebo effect.
One type of treatment, however, is usually not sufficient for chronic sufferers and they may have to find a variety of different ways of managing, living with, and seeking treatment of chronic daily headache pains.
There are however two types of treatment for chronic headaches, i.e. acute abortive treatment and preventive treatment. Whereas the first is aimed to relieve the symptoms immediately, the latter is focused on controlling the headaches that are chronic. For this reason, the acute treatment is commonly and effectively used in treating migraines and the preventive treatment is the usual approach in managing chronic headaches. The primary goal of preventive treatment is to reduce the frequency, severity, and duration of headaches. This type of treatment involves taking medication on a daily basis for at least 3 months and in some cases, for over 6 months. The medication used in preventive treatment is normally chosen based on the other conditions that the patient is suffering from. Generally, medication in preventive treatment starts at the minimum dosage which increases gradually until the pain is relieved and the goal achieved or until side effects appear.
To date, only amitriptyline, fluoxetine, gabapentin, tizanidine, topiramate, and botulinum toxin type A (BoNTA) have been evaluated as "prophylactic treatment of chronic daily headache in randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled or active comparator-controlled trials. Antiepileptics can be used as preventative treatment of chronic daily headache and includes Valproate.
Psychological treatments are usually considered in comorbid patients or in those who are unresponsive to the medication.
