Cluster headaches are a not very well known type of headache. To start off, it's a primary headache like migraine, which means it doesn't have an underlying cause. Another difference it has with migraines is that it affects mostly middle-aged men. Cluster headaches usually happen in a cyclic pattern.

As with migraines, there is little explanation as to what causes this difference, but research has shown that while most cluster headache sufferers are men, there are a few exceptions where women also have cluster headache. There are also a few men who have suffered from "regular" migraine, if that can be called such, since research suspects that both are just a different manifestation of the same health condition.

Differences between migraines and cluster headaches

Not only do migraine and cluster headaches differ in their target but they also have different ways of hurting. While migraines happen on one side of the head causing throbbing pain and nausea, cluster headaches appear in an area of the head, for instance the eyes, only to disappear suddenly and appear in another area of the head. This is due to the inflammation of the blood vessel in the brain.

It is worth noting that both types of primary headaches are incapacitating in a way, since they are extremely painful and it's difficult for the sufferer to carry a normal, everyday life while having a headache episode. Generally, cluster headaches have been reputed to be even more painful than migraines but there is no scientific evidence of this. It may be the fact that men don't have as much tolerance to pain as women.

Both migraines and cluster headaches are caused by blood vessel inflammation and or constriction, which causes an extreme, throbbing pain. Most primary headaches are relieved by vaso constrictor medicines such as triptan type like Imitrex, Maxalt or Relpax, but cluster headaches do not appear to react so well to those drugs.

As we said before, cluster headaches can appear anywhere in the head, appearing in one place and then in another, coming and going. And when it seems to disappear it comes back even more painful.

What Can I Do With Cluster Headaches?

At the moment, the most accepted treatment is a combination of preventive medicine such as Inderal and then a triptan medication when the cluster headache appears. Inderal is an anti-hypertensive drug that helps to control blood vessels. Cluster headaches are difficult to treat since they aren't easy to pinpoint when it's going to happen, in two hours, in two days, in two weeks?

Cluster headaches are cyclic by nature, and these cycles can last for a few weeks. A man can suffer from cluster headaches on and off during this cycle, anywhere and anytime, and then they will disappear for weeks until next cycle. If you've never met someone who suffers from cluster headaches then you don't know that they find it very difficult to lead a normal life during a cluster headache cycle, since he pain can start anytime: at work, at home, and even in the middle of the night. This is a classic symptom of cluster headaches: to wake up in the middle of the night in excruciating pain.

If you think you or somebody you know may be suffering from cluster headaches seek immediate professional advice to find the best treatment.