4 Common Headache Types

Headaches all involve head pain, as the name indicates, but they come in a variety of different forms, both physiologically and in terms of their triggers and symptoms. A migraine, for example, is not just a particularly excruciating headache. It involves a vasodilation (blood vessel expansion) component that is uncommon to other headaches, in which only vasocontriction (blood vessel narrowing) occurs. Head pain is diverse, as indicated by the following sample of different headache types from The Huffington Post.

Medication Overuse Headache (MOH)

The medication overuse headache, also called a medication-induced headache or rebound headache, occurs chronically. It arises in response to prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) drugs used as headache treatments over a prolonged period. These headaches often result from overuse of pain pills: taking OTC pain medication, such as aspirin, three or more times a week for a prolonged period. Use of prescription triptans 11 times in a month can cause this headache as well.

Tension Headache

The most prevalent of all headache types, the tension headache is a general sense of head pressure or tension. The pain is experienced at the side or rear of your head and can often be felt in the neck as well. The pain generated by this headache is usually not as intense as some of the more extreme types. It tends to be triggered by high-stress situations and a poorly aligned spine, so relaxation techniques and postural adjustments (potentially through spinal decompression or yoga) can help you avoid chronic pain.

Dental-Related Headache

For some, one of the best headache treatments is a visit to the dentist. Two disorders in particular can lead to dental headaches in afflicted individuals: TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder) and bruxism. TMJ is a condition of misalignment or arthritis in the joints where your skull and jawbone meet. Bruxism is tooth-grinding that occurs in your sleep.

Cluster Headache

Of the headache types listed here, cluster headaches are probably the only one approaching the pain severity of migraine. This headache gets its name from its rate of occurrence over a specific timespan: up to eight times in a "cluster" day. Notably, sufferers of cluster headaches experience pain on only one side of the head.

Headache Treatments

One thing that those who experience chronic headaches have in common is the desire for immediate and long-lasting pain relief. The only reasonable way to achieve short-term and long-term pain alleviation is with a dual approach: medical and physical. MiRx Protocol's sophisticated therapeutic system meets that need for thousands of people.