Cluster headaches are undounbtedly one of the most painful conditions known and their one and only saving grace is that they are thankfully reasonably rare. For example, though approximately one person out of every ten of the population suffers from migraine, only in the region of one person out of three hundred will experience a cluster headache.
Cluster headaches usually present as what a lot of sufferers describe as a hot stabbing pain behind only one eye or in the area of the temple. Their chief characteristic however is that they run to a timetable and will appear at about the same time each day often appearing for several days, or even weeks or months at a time. They also have a tendency to appear without warning, unlike migraine headaches which are often preceded by a number of warning signs.
Nobody is quite sure what causes these extremely painful headaches though research favors the theory that they result from abnormalities in the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is a small gland that plays an important part in regulating your body clock and this might explain why these headaches occur at approximately the same time every day.
Yet another feature of these headaches which distinguishes them from migraines is that are seen far more in men than in women. When it comes to migraines about three times as many women as men are sufferers however, in the case of cluster headaches, studies indicate that they are up to eight times more prevalent in men.
Traditional treatments for normal headaches are virtually always ineffective for cluster headaches and this is one type of headache for which you must seek professional advice from your doctor.
One frequently used treatment is to breathe pure oxygen for a few minutes once the headache arrives. This particular form of treatment does not work for everyone but generally works very well for those people who do find that it is helpful. It will not however prevent a headache and only works in treating a headache once it has begun.
Yet another extremely effective treatment is the use of a new form of drugs called triptans which are currently being used to treat migraine headaches. These drugs must however be taken in a fast acting form if they are to be effective and this generally means taking them in the form of a nasal spray. However, in many cases cluster headaches can cause inflammation of the nasal passages making this form of treatment difficult. In these cases, triptans can occasionally be given by injection.
At present there are no really effective preventative treatments available for cluster headaches although some sufferers find that calcium channel blockers work reasonably well. In addition, in very severe cases surgery may be considered as a treatment of last resort and a number of neurological procedures are available including procedures that block certain nerves and which remove part of the brain.
