Headache Differential Diagnosis

Headaches can present in many different ways and diagnosis can sometimes be very difficult. In terms of presentation, it may be directly associated with migraine, but the fact is that regardless of any headache, the most serious diseases must be ruled out first, such as intracranial space, i.e., headaches caused by intracranial tumor compression, and cerebrovascular accidents, such as strokes, including ischemic strokes or cerebral hemorrhagic strokes, which must be ruled out first and foremost, and can be ruled out by the patient’s symptoms, signs, and imaging studies. Most patients may have migraine, tension headache, cluster headache. Migraine headaches are mostly on one side and may be accompanied by photophobia and phonophobia. Cluster headaches occur in young males and are relatively constant in duration. Tension headaches occur in young women and may be accompanied by symptoms of anxiety and depression. In addition, there may be problems with cranial nerves, such as the most common trigeminal nerve pain, which can also manifest as headaches. Therefore, patients must be diagnosed and then treated through specialty or even multidisciplinary collaboration.