There are four types of common headaches

  Headache is a common clinical symptom and a common disease in the pain clinic. The common headaches are as follows: 1. Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder related to neurovascular dysfunction of the brain, which occurs in young and middle-aged people and is characterized by recurrent moderate to severe headaches. It mostly manifests as severe throbbing headache with nausea and vomiting.  The treatment of migraine includes both treatment of attacks and intermittent treatment. Once the manifestation of attack or even aura appears, pain relief medications such as depot pain tablets, Benadryl or Tylenol should be taken promptly. These drugs are suitable for mild and moderate migraine attacks. If the above-mentioned drugs do not work well or the headache is heavy, you can use the drugs of the class of Traptan, and the ones currently used in China are Sumatriptan and Zolmitriptan, which are the special drugs for migraine attacks.  2.Cervicogenic headache Cervicogenic headache is a kind of non-genetic, unilateral or bilateral headache. The pain can be distributed in the neck, occipital, parietal, temporal and frontal areas of the affected side, with intermittent or continuous attacks. The cause is mostly due to nerve compression caused by degenerative disc disease and concomitant local aseptic inflammation.  Cervicogenic headache is mostly discomfort in the occipital area, behind the ear, and under the ear in the early stage, and later turns into stuffiness or soreness, and pain gradually appears. The pain site may extend to the forehead, temporal region, top, and neck, and cold, exertion, alcohol consumption, and emotional excitement may induce the pain to worsen. Some patients are accompanied by tinnitus, ear swelling, eye stuffiness, and a feeling of stiffness in the neck.  Treatment of cervicogenic headache includes medication, nerve blocks and minimally invasive neurointerventional analgesia. Today, there are no specific medications for cervicogenic headache. Nerve block can relieve the headache in a short period of time and can reduce the amount of analgesic drugs.  3.Cluster headache Cluster headache is a kind of severe episodic pain mainly in the orbital, temporal and frontal regions, which is confined to one side, and the cause is unknown.  Cluster headache has a typical cluster period and a remission period. During the cluster phase, the headache attacks are strictly rhythmic, usually occurring at least once or twice a day at a fixed time, with nocturnal attacks being the most common. This is followed by a period of remission, usually about several months to 2 years. Cluster headache has a more pronounced rhythm and more intense headache than migraine, but generally has a shorter duration. The pain starts around the eye sockets on one side and extends rapidly to the frontotemporal region, and in severe cases may involve the opposite side. The pain is pulsating, combined with a drilling or burning pain, and may awaken during sleep.  Inhalation of 100% oxygen and subcutaneous sumatriptan is the treatment of choice for acute attacks of headache and provides rapid relief. During cluster attacks, oral ergot alkaloids (dihydroergotamine) are given every night before bedtime to achieve satisfactory results in the prevention of headaches from night to morning.  4.Tension-type headache Tension-type headache, also known as muscle contraction headache, accounts for about 40% of headache disorders and is the most common type of chronic headache. Its onset is related to psychosocial stress, anxiety, depression, mental factors, muscle tension, abuse of pain medication and other factors.  Tension-type headache is characterized by almost daily bilateral occipital, cervical, frontotemporal or whole head non-pulsating headache, usually persistent dull pain, swelling pain, like a band tightening the head or a feeling of tightness, pressure or heaviness around the head, and sometimes hair pulling pain. Most patients have symptoms of anxiety, depression and insomnia, which are mostly triggered by mental tension and work fatigue.  Many of the drugs used to treat this disease are the same as those used for migraine. Stellate ganglion block is effective in the treatment of tension headache, but long-term persistence is required. In addition, it is important to pay attention to timely emotional regulation and maintain a pleasant mood in life.