1. A Visual Guide to Migraine Headaches Slideshow Pictures
2. Headache and Migraine Triggers Slideshow Pictures
3. Take the Migraines Quiz

Medical Author:

Mark Langdorf, MD

Coauthor:

Aaron Bright, MD

Medical Editor:

John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP

John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP

John P. Cunha, DO, is a U.S. board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician. Dr. Cunha's educational background includes a BS in Biology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and a DO from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, MO. He completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey.

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Mild headache symptoms are unlikely to need immediate medical attention. These symptoms include mild head pain that is aching, squeezing, or bandlike, on both sides of the head, generally above the level of the eyebrows.

These headaches can occur often and may appear at predictable times. People who have these types of mild headache often know the triggers and symptoms of their headaches because the pattern repeats itself for each episode.

Common headache types include the following:

• Tension-type headache is thought to be the most common headache type. It occurs more often in women than in men. Attacks can be occasional or more frequent. Symptoms include tight, or pressing, mild-to-moderate head pain, which may be on both sides. Pain usually radiates from the neck and the back of the head around the sides.
• Migraine is the second most common headache type. These are classified according to whether or not they include an aura (a visual disturbance, weakness, or numbness that occurs 1 to 2 hours before the onset of the headache). Migraines with this aura are called classic, while those without are called common. Migraine is more common in women than men. It is often one-sided, throbbing, of moderate-to-severe intensity. The headache may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light.
• Cluster headache is a less common headache that occurs in men more often than women. With a cluster headache, there is intense pain that is generally on one side and located around the eye or temple. A bloodshot eye, tearing, runny nose, and eyelid drooping or swelling on the same side of the face may also occur. The headaches tend to occur in "clusters," sometimes daily or every few days over a period of weeks to months. After such a "cluster" of headaches, there may be symptom-free periods of years before another cluster of headaches occurs.

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