Diagnosing Different Types of Headaches

Many people believe that determining what type of headaches you have should be an easy task.  Since nearly every adult has suffered from a headache, a simple diagnosis should be a given.

If you have a headache, you certainly know it.  Although there will be obvious and easily felt pain, it is sometimes tricky to accurately diagnose different types of headaches.

Doctors do not have an universal and authoritative set of tests for headache diagnosis. If you suffer from a headache, you know and feel it.  A doctor, however, can not feel your pain so they have to rely on what you tell them.  When it comes to describing your symptoms, the descriptions often vary wildly.

Many headaches sufferers aren’t precise in relating what they feel.  Sometimes it has to do with the vocabulary they use, while other times it has to do with the type of pain that they feel.  If you describe your headache as a “splitting pain” it often doesn’t help determine what type of headache you have.  Similarly, your headache pain may be distributed around your head, which makes it hard to pinpoint the exact location.

A major problem in diagnosing headaches has to do with the different types of headaches that exist.

One of the more common types of headaches are simple tension headaches.  These headaches are caused by inflamed muscles in the neck or face which results in constriction of head blood vessels.  Tension headaches often don’t get professionally diagnosed.  Most people treat tension headaches with analgesic pain killers or simply wait until they go away.  A more serious form of headache is a migraine.  Migraines are much more extreme but they are more intermittent.  About 50% of people with migraines do not visit a doctor for treatment or diagnosis.

In order to suggest an appropriate treatment, most doctors use impartial factors to diagnose different types of headaches.

Although headache pain is very subjective, the type of pain can indicate the headache type.  If the pain is reported as throbbing intensely or having pulsing sensations, this might indicate a migraine headache.  If the pain is more regular and diffuse it could indicate a simple tension headache.

Migraine headaches are typically associated with nausea and vomiting, sensitivity to light and sound, and cold extremities. These symptoms are often similar for many people suffering from migraines, so the form an objective group of symptoms that doctor use to form a correct diagnosis.

Headaches that consist of extreme pain located behind the eyes or temples, that occur for 30 minutes to over an hour are often cluster headaches.  Cluster headaches occur for short periods of time and then come again the next day at approximately the same time.  Cluster headaches may continue for several weeks.  Since cluster headaches are regularly occurring, doctors will have more information to rely on for a correct diagnosis.

If a headache is caused by some underlying neurological condition, like a brain tumor, doctors will look for additional factors when headaches are reported.

Doctors will often use MRI or CT scans to diagnose brain activity patterns that may correspond to the underlying physical condition.  If headaches get progressively worse, physicians will have more information to go on.  If the pattern of headaches changes rapidly, physicians will have another clue.  In certain cases, physicians can diagnose an aneurysm (weakening of  a blood vessel) by understanding the patterns of your headaches.

If the headache comes from improper use of medication - MOH (medication overuse headache) - doctors have the history of the medication used to aid in their diagnoses. Family medical history also helps in diagnoses. Migraines run in families, while cluster headaches do not.

Diagnosing the different types of headaches is a complicated practice considering the wide range of symptoms and causes. But the foundation in all cases is to gather as much objective information as possible, both from the patient and clinical tests.