Cluster Headaches

Cluster headaches are chronic and recurrent form of headaches. Cluster headaches only affect less than 1% of the people in the United States which make cluster headaches the least common type of headaches. Cluster headaches come in groups or clusters lasting weeks or month. Although many consider cluster headache as the most painful headaches, it is not life-threatening. Men get cluster headaches more than women. About 85% of age between 20 and 50 experience cluster headaches.

So far, no one knows what causes cluster headache. It is not related to other illnesses and diseases. Unlike migraine, cluster headaches rarely run in families. Scientists believe that a sudden release of histamine or serotonin in the body tissue causes clusters. Others claim that the cause is connected to a change in the blood flow in the brain. Some suggests that certain parts of the brain that don't function properly lead to this headache.

During your sleep especially in the REM (rapid eye movement) phase, these "alarm clock" headaches begin to strike without any warning. The pain can be severe and lasts from thirty minutes to ninety minutes. In some occasion, it can extend to a few hours. It always happen at the same time of each day during the course of a cluster. The attacks continue for four to eight weeks before the cluster period is over. Then they come back every few months. During other times, you have no cluster headaches.

There are two types of cluster headaches- episodic and chronic. In episodic cluster headache, it happens every day for months with alternating periods of remissions and attacks. Remission is a stage without any headache. However, chronic cluster headaches occur for a year or more continually and accounts for twenty percent of the cluster headache suffers.

Cluster headaches generally reach their peak within five to ten minutes after the onset. The attacks are usually very similar, varying only slightly from one attack to another. Cluster headache symptoms include intense one-sided pain around one eye or temple, tearing and redness in eye. It is the only headache that often awaken the suffer at the same time during the night.

Your doctor can diagnose your headache based on your symptoms and physical examination. He may perform other tests to rule out other causes.

There is no universal cluster headaches treatment or cure. The available treatment is only to relieve the symptoms. Since your response to different medications varies, you have to try several medicines before pinning down the suitable treatment.

Cluster headache is a complicated headache as its causes are unknown. The pain is so severe that ones can describe it graphically as “It feels like a hot poker pushing out my eye.” Fortunately, it only affects a very small number of people. Since there is no cure or right treatment for cluster headaches, the best way is to prevent it.