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Types of Headache

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Topic Overview

It can be hard for your doctor to tell whether you have migraine headaches, tension headaches, sinus headaches, or cluster headaches. The symptoms of these headaches are often the same, and no test can diagnose headaches.

Listing a few key features of your headaches may help your doctor find out what type of headache you have. This can help your doctor treat your headaches.

For example, you may think that your headaches are sinus headaches. But if they happen often and interfere with your daily life, they probably are migraines. A true sinus headache is caused by a sinus infection.

**Common types of headache**
Type	Where the pain is	How bad the pain is	Things that make it worse	Symptoms
Migraine	Usually on one side of your head with pressure behind one eye	Throbbing, pulsating headache that is moderate to severe	Pain gets worse with normal physical activity.	Nausea or vomiting Feeling worse around light and noise Runny or stuffy nose can occur along with other symptoms, such as diarrhea and fatigue. May begin at night and wake you from sleep
Sinus	Around your eyes, cheekbones, forehead, and bridge of the nose	Deep and constant headache pain	Leaning over, sudden movement, or exercising may make the headache worse.	A fever Green or gray discharge from your nose that lasts more than 7 to 10 days A runny or stuffy nose A feeling of fullness in the ears, or plugged ears Swelling or puffiness in the face
Tension	On both sides or all over your head	Deep, pressing, tightening headache that does not throb or pulse and is mild to moderate	Physical activity does not make headache worse.	No nausea or vomiting May be worse around light or noise (but not both) May last for minutes to several days
Cluster	On one side of the face, head, or neck; does not switch sides	Piercing pain that gets very bad very fast, usually within 5 to 10 minutes	Lying down makes it worse.	Watery eyes and small (constricted) pupils Nasal congestion or runny nose Droopy or swollen eyelids Sweating on the forehead or face May wake you at night.

WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise

Last Updated: April 27, 2010

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information.