Chronic Headache

Most of us would not think of a headache as a serious health condition. However, if you experiences headaches fifteen days or more in a month, the individual may be suffering from a condition referred to as chronic headache or chronic daily headache (CDH). Statistics show that around 4%-5% of adults suffer from chronic headaches.

The chronic headache condition could be categorized into a number of sub-categories such as chronic migraine, chronic tension type, new daily persistent and hemicrania continua. You would experience a persistent pain in the head in all these instances but remember that these each subtype might show unique sets of symptoms. Migraine type of chronic headaches may display symptoms including nausea, vomiting, light and sound sensitivity and a severe headache occurring only on one side of the head with a pulsating or throbbing sensation. Individuals suffering from chronic tension type headaches may suffer from symptoms such as headaches that hurt both sides of the head and slight to moderate pain which is generally described as pressing or tightening.

New daily persistent headaches, a subtype of chronic headache condition is characterized by headaches that crop up abruptly and continues for nearly three days. The headache appears on both sided of the head and is generally described by patients to be of tightening or pressing sensation rather than throbbing. In addition to these subtypes, hemicranias continua is also categorized as a component of the chronic headache condition with symptoms that are quite clearly more visible than the other subtypes. Patients affected by this type of chronic headache condition might show symptoms like headaches that only crop up on one side of the head daily and persistently and certain areas like the eye lid might show some swelling, the eye on the affected side would appear red and they patients might experience nasal congestion also.

Upto now, a cure has not been found for chronic headache conditions even though some medical and non medical methods are available to reduce the suffering of the patients. Relaxation training, acupuncture, paracetamol, asprin and physical therapy are some of the treatment recommended in treating chronic headaches. Also, techniques like changes in the diet and psychological therapy are also being experimented as potential treatments for chronic headache conditions. Modern research show that combining medical and non medical treatment is likely to show optimum results.

Therefore, if one is suffering from chronic headaches it is important to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Although a cure may not be available, early treatment would definitely aid in improving the quality of life of the patient.