Cluster Headache

Cluster Headache – General Information

Cluster Headache is a type of headache, the most painful actually. But the severity and the intensity of the discomfort and the pain which this disease induces are not the only things which separate this type of headache from the others. Another striking difference is the fact that the problems appear in cyclical clusters or patterns; this specific aspect is the reason why the disease is called Cluster Headache. These cyclical attacks happen frequently and the attack period can last from a couple of weeks to a few months. The evolution and the way the disease manifests differs from a sufferer to another, but most of the sufferers complain of at least one cluster period every year. Even if the attacks can be extremely painful, they are definitely not life-threatening. The disease can be treated quite successfully and the attacks will become less severe and shorter. Apart from this, after the disorder is treated, the headaches can disappear for a long period of time, even years. The good part is the fact that this disease affects a small number of people; in addition, the studies shown that men are more likely to suffer from this disease. Cluster Headache usually affects people aged between 25 and 45, but it can develop at any age.  
In most of the cases, the appearance of headaches is not the result of a more serious internal disease; furthermore, they develop suddenly. Headaches can be classified by the length of the attacks in two main categories: chronic headaches and episodic headaches.

Cluster Headache – Symptoms

This type of headache appears and develops suddenly, without warning. It can strike at any moment of the day and it usually causes extreme and unbearable pain. In most of the cases, these headaches affect only one part of the head and they do not switch to the other side. Usually, the patients describe these attacks as a feeling of a burning, penetrating and sharp thing inside their heads. In addition, they feel like their eyes are forced out. The most common sign and symptom which a person who suffers from Cluster Headache develops is restlessness:  the sufferers choose to move or to rock their heads forth and back in order to diminish the intensity of the attacks. In addition, they usually place some ice on the affected area or they tend to press one of their hands on the scalp or the eye. A very important thing to remember if you suffer from headaches is the fact that you should avoid to lye down for as long as possible, as this position increases the pain. On the other hand, people who suffer from this disorder choose to isolate from the others as mush as possible. During an attack, a patient can act quite frightening and he could even try to hurt himself in order to forget about the unbearable pain. Other potential symptoms are: stuffed nose, teary eyes, pale and sweaty skin, drooping eyelid, reduced pupil size, and so on. In most of the cases of Cluster Headache, the symptoms last as long as the disease lasts.

Cluster Headache – Treatment

Cluster Headache does not indicate a severe problem or an underlying disease; in some rare cases, however, it can be the result of a threatening problem, such as a brain tumor. In order to receive a sure diagnosis, you should visit a doctor as soon as you observe any changes of your general medical condition or as soon as you develop one or more of the symptoms and signs presented above. The doctor will probably recommend you to take a number of tests, if he notices any of the problems: severe and abrupt headache; headache associated with stiff neck, mental confusion, fever, weakness, speaking difficulties, double vision (these can be signs of meningitis, a brain tumor, a stroke or encephalitis); chronic headache; headaches which appear after a surgery or an injury of the head.

In the case of young children, parents should carefully monitor their medical condition and visit a doctor as soon as the child presents head pain; if the baby is too young, the parents should visit a doctor when the child starts to cry with no reason and he holds his head.
There is yet no cure for Cluster Headache, but the treatment is administrated in order to shorten the evolution of the disease and to minimize its severity.
The most common ways to treat Cluster Headache are the following:

• Acute medication: in this case, drugs are being administrated in order to reduce pain. As the attacks are extremely fast, in order to obtain a better result the drugs should also be given quickly; in order to do so, they are usually delivered using an inhaler or an injection and not the classical oral tablets. You should always keep some drugs on you and you should teach the family members and the close friends what to do in the case of an attack.

In the case of this type of headaches, drugs such as ibuprofen and aspirin are not useful, as they start to work long after the attack is gone. Other substances are used in order to assure pain relief:

• Oxygen: this is the safest and the most effective way of treatment, as the results are noticeable in less than 20 minutes.
• Dihydroergotamine: this drug can only be administrated by a doctor in a medical centre.
• Sumatriptan: this drug is available in an injectable form, as well as in nasal spray form.  
• Octreotide: this drug is especially recommended for sufferers with high blood pressure.
• Surgery: this is a rare way of treating Cluster Headache and it is used in the case of those patients who do not respond to other treatment or who are allergic to certain substances. The surgery can be performed only once and only on one side of the head.

Because of the fact that the exact cause of the development of Cluster Headache is not yet known, doctors can not recommend exact measures of prevention. However, those who think that they could be possible sufferers can start to take preventive medications.