Cluster Headache

Cluster headaches are rare headaches that occur in patterns called clusters. These headaches occur once or more daily, often at the same times each day, for a period of several weeks, followed by a headache-free period lasting weeks, months, or even years.

Cluster headache sufferers typically experience very severe headaches of a piercing quality near one eye or temple that last for up to three hours. Cluster headaches are frequency associated with drooping eyelids, red, watery eyes, and nasal congestion on the affected side of the face. They are unilateral and rarely change sides.

Whereas other headaches, such as migraines occur more often in women, cluster headaches occur several times as often in men. Cluster headaches are occasionally referred to as "alarm clock headaches", as they can occur at night and wake a person from sleep. Although they can strike at any age, cluster headaches typically begin around the age of 50.

While the immediate cause of pain is stimulation of the trigeminal nerve, the true cause of cluster headache remains largely unknown, though there are many speculations. Among the most widely accepted is that cluster headaches are due to an abnormality in the hypothalamus. This can explain why cluster headaches frequently strike at around the same time each day, as one of the functions the hypothalamus performs is regulation of the biological clock.

Cluster headaches are benign, but extremely painful.

Medifocus Guidebook on: Cluster Headache Author: Medifocus.com Inc. Description The MediFocus Guidebook on Cluster Headache is the most comprehensive, up-to-date source of information available. You will get answers to your questions, including risk factors of Cluster Headache, standard and alternative treatment options, leading doctors, hospitals and medical centers that specialize in Cluster Headache, results of the latest clinical trials, support groups and additional resources, and promising new treatments on the horizon...

Cluster Headaches: Treatment and Relief for Cluster, Cluster Migraine, and Recurring Eye-Stab Pain Author: Michael Goldstein Description Cluster headaches (also called cluster migraines or Horton's syndrome) are similar to migraines but are much more severe. Attacks arrive in clusters lasting weeks to months, with months or years between headache cycles...

RELIEF OF CLUSTER HEADACHE AND CRANIAL NEURALGIAS: Promising prophylactic and symptomatic treatments (Postgraduate Medicine) Author: Donald J. Dalessio Description Cluster headaches and trigeminal and glossopharyngeal neuralgias produce intermittent, debilitating pain. The episodic nature of the symptoms of these conditions remains enigmatic, but a number of effective treatments have been developed that offer hope to patients...

The Cleveland Clinic Manual of Headache Therapy Description The Cleveland Clinic Manual of Headache Therapy is a hands-on, practical guide to diagnosis, work-up, and treatment of common headache disorders. Each chapter is written by a Cleveland Clinic Headache Center care provider...

Headache Free: A Personalized Program to Stop Migraine, Cluster, Sinus, Tension, Menstrual, and Rebound Headaches Author: Roger K. Cady Description You Don't Have to Suffer From Headache PainHeadache is one of the most painful and disabling of common medical disorders. It is also one of the most treatable. Major advances in headache management offer new hope and help for chronic headache sufferers...

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