What Causes and Cures Headache?

Experts classify headache into three major groups. A migraine headache is a severe and recurring headache, usually exhibiting throbbing in one side of the head, often accompanied by nausea and sometimes with impaired vision. A cluster headache is similar to the migraine, although generally less severe and of short duration. These often occur daily over several weeks or months and will generally manifest in the area of one eye. Tension headaches are generally not localized consistently and are thought to stem from muscle tension in the face, neck or scalp.

Serious medical attention should be given to headache following injury to the head, which may indicate concussion. This pain is caused by blood seeping from the brain and creating pressure in the skull. This can cause temporary or permanent damage to the brain resulting in amnesia, fatigue, irritability and memory loss.

Headache is a symptom of meningitis, a swelling of the tissue surrounding the brain and spinal column. Usually caused by a virus, this condition can cause death. Fast intervention for bacterial meningitis through the use of intravenous antibiotics is called for. Viral meningitis is usually treated with bed rest, fluids and pain medication, with most patients recovering and showing little of no after effects in about two weeks.

Encephalitis is another headache producing condition caused by either a viral or parasitic infection. Swelling of the brain causes the pain and other symptoms include extreme lethargy and fever. This can lead to coma, impaired vision, deafness and death. This is also treated with antibiotics or anti-parasiticals, according to the source.

Another dangerous cause of headache is stroke, which is a reduction or interruption of the blood flow to a section of the brain. Stroke results in permanent damage to brain tissue and therefore the patients' ability to function are impaired. The impairment can be mild to severe and can include slurred speech or inability to speak, paralysis, difficulty walking and myriad other symptoms.

Most headaches, however, are not serious from a long-term view, but are certainly painful and can be debilitating. Old folk remedies used various lichens to treat headache and the bark of the willow tree was long ago discovered as an analgesic. Modern treatments include analgesics like aspirin or acetaminophen.

Migraine headache does not respond to analgesics, but relief is sometimes gained with various medications designed to expand or contract blood vessels. These include the beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers, which are classes of medications that affect the circulatory system.

There are many headache clinics in the world, whose work is entirely focused on the relief of this malady. Biofeedback techniques have proven effective on all three types of headache. Chiropractic treatment is often used to alleviate pressure and relieve pain.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Headaches [http://headache-guides.com/]

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