Vascular Headaches - Are You A Sufferer?

This article about headaches is appealing for those interested about this topic is written by David Wilding

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What are vascular headaches?

Vascular headaches are any that are thought to be cause because of the blood vessels in the brain working abnormally. Migraines are a type of vascular headache.

What are migraines?

These are the most common sort of vascular headache. They usually involve the following:

• A severe pain on one side or both sides of the skull
• Feeling sick and/or being sick
• Being very sensitive to light and/or noise
• Vision disturbances

The most common types of migraine are called ‘classic’ and ‘common’

Classic Migraine

This is a migraine that can give a warning sign to the sufferer in the form of an aura, up to half an hour before an attack begins. The person may see dazzling lights or zig-zagging lines.
Other symptoms of classic migraine may include:

• Having difficulty speaking
• Feeling weakness in an arm or leg
• Feeling a tingling sensation in the face or hands
• Feeling confused

The pain of a classic migraine headache may feel like a severe pounding or throbbing. This may be in the front of the head, in the temple area, around the ear, jaw or eye. It can start on one side of the head, but may commonly spread to the other side too as the migraine continues.

Common Migraine

This is not usually heralded by an aura although the person may feel a variety of sensations before it begins. These may include:

• Feeling fuzzy and unable to think clearly
• Having mood swings
• Feeling tired
• Retaining fluid and feeling bloated
• Diarrhea and urination more than usual
• Feeling sick and/or being sick

A common migraine may last for three or four days and can be completely debilitating.

Are these the only two types of migraine?
No, there are others, including:

• Hormonal migraines such as premenstrual migraine, menstrual migraine, pregnancy migraines and menopausal migraines. All are thought to be caused by fluctuations in hormone levels.
• Ophthalmoplegic migraine, where symptoms affect they eye, causing pain, a drooping eyelid, seeing double and other problems with vision.
• Basilar Artery migraine which involves the disturbance of a major artery in the brain. This is most common in teen and young adult women. It is often linked to the menstrual cycle. Symptoms may include vertigo, double vision and poor co-ordination.
• Benign exertional headache which is triggered by exercise, coughing, sneezing, bending over or sex. The pain usually only lasts for several minutes.
• Headache-free migraine where the sufferer has all the other symptoms of a migraine but no headache.

What other vascular headaches are there?

After migraines, the most common vascular headache is called a toxic headache. These are often triggered by the high fevers that can accompany illnesses like measles, mumps, tonsillitis and pneumonia. It can also be brought on by alien chemicals in the body which is why it is called toxic.

Other vascular headaches are cluster headaches and those brought on by blood pressure rising. As always you should seek the advice of your doctor in treating your headache.