Headaches and Migraines are part of everyday life. They are very dreadful in everyone and the pain ranges from numb to very severe so severe that you have to go to the hospital. They are common but nobody knows what they really are. Every headache is different in every person.

The symptoms of migraines are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, changes in visions including, blurred vision or blind spots, zig-zags of light or light flashes, sensitivity to light, noise and odors, fatigue, confusion, nasal congestion, feeling cold or sweating, stiff or tender neck, anxious or restlessness, light handedness, tender scalp, and cold hands and feet. The changes in vision is a symptom of the aura migraines with changes in vision before the pain begins. Migraines occur on one side of the head. Migraines last between 4 and 72 hours.

The most common type of headache is the tension headache, and it’s symptoms are pain upon awakening, general muscle aches, difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, chronic fatigue, irritability, disturbed concentration, mild sensitivity to light or noise, occasional dizziness, and occasional nausea.

Cluster headaches are the worst kind of headaches. They can be many times worse than a migraine attack. Cluster headaches occur one to three times a day. They can happen very regularly, generally at the same time each day, and are their worst within five to ten minutes. They can last from 15 minutes to three hours. They can bother you at the same time every night and are known to be worse at night than during the daytime. The attacks only very slightly for every person. The pain is almost always on one side of the head and doesn’t switch sides for the headache period but may switch sides for the next one. The pain is located behind one eye or in the eye region. And may extend to the forehead, temple, nose, cheek, or upper gum on the affected side. And during an attack the eye affected by the headache may become swollen or droop. The pupil of the eye may get smaller. People with cluster headaches have a higher risk of developing a stomach ulcer. And it’s possible to have cluster headaches and migraines.

Some of the recent developments in my area are that Migraines are genetic, obesity and smoking in teens are linked to migraines, and migraines are linked to heart attack risk. They found that people who have a distinctive change, or variation, in a section of DNA that helps with a brain chemical called glutamate have a higher change of developing migraines. Also teens are more likely to have chronic headaches or migraines when they are overweight, smoke cigarettes, or get little to no exercise. People who have migraines are more likely to have a heart attack as well as other risk factors for heart disease. People who have migraines are twice as likely to have a heart attack, and people who have migraines with auras were about three times as likely to get them. Also some of the treatments that are involved with migraines include the placebo effect. They use things that look like drugs but are not actually drugs.

For temporary relief for migraines and headaches but make sure that you use the medication wisely or it can cause something called “rebound headaches.” Also certain medications used for it causes them. You can also use things that look like nose spray to treat them.

You can use this information to treat your own headaches and the migraines that you have.