WHAT IS CLUSTER HEADACHE
Cluster headaches are among the most intense headaches and occur in cyclical patterns or cluster intervals. The cluster headache is characterized by significant pain in or around one eye on one side of the head. For example, one might experience intense cluster headaches behind the left eye. Cluster episodes last weeks to months and are frequently followed by remission periods, during which the headaches stop. There are no headaches for months or even years during the remission phase. Cluster headaches are not prevalent and do not represent a danger to life. With the right care, cluster headache occurrences can be reduced in length and severity. Medication can also aid in reducing cluster headache frequency. Episodic cluster headaches and chronic cluster headaches are the two main types of cluster headaches.
Headaches occur daily, sometimes countless times a day.
CLUSTER PERIOD CHARACTERISTICS
An episode might last anywhere from 15 mins to three hours.
Most attacks occur at night, 1 to 2 hours after bed.
The pain disappears as swiftly as it began, with the intensity suddenly decreasing. Most people are painfree yet fatigued after an attack.
Cluster Headache Symptoms
The length of a cluster phase might range from a few weeks to several months. The start time and duration of each cluster period may be constant across time. For instance, cluster periods can occur every spring or every fall on a seasonal basis.
Episodic cluster headaches are a common headache kind. The duration of episodic cluster headaches ranges from a week to a year, and they are followed by remission periods that can persist for up to a year before returning.
BEST WAY TO RELIEVE A CLUSTER HEADACHE
1.Oxygen - Breathing in pure oxygen through a mask provides relief for most who use it. People feel the effects of this safe treatment within 15 minutes. Oxygen generally has no side effects. But it's not used for people with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
2.Triptans - Sumatriptan (Imitrex) is given as a shot when cluster headache symptoms start. Using sumatriptan as a nasal spray or using another triptan medicine, zolmitriptan (Zomig), also has been shown to work, but not as quickly as a shot. Sumatriptan isn't recommended for people who have uncontrolled high blood pressure or heart disease. Shots and nose sprays are used more often than oral medicines because they act faster than medicines taken by mouth do.
3.Octreotide - Octreotide (Sandostatin), a shot of a version of the brain hormone somatostatin, works for some people with cluster headache. It might be used for people for whom triptans don't work well.
4.Local anesthetics - The numbing effect of local anesthetics, such as lidocaine, might work against cluster headache pain in some people when given through the nose.
5.Dihydroergotamine - A form of dihydroergotamine given through a vein might help relieve pain for some people with cluster headache. This medicine also comes in a form that's inhaled through the nose. But this form hasn't been proved to work for
Cluster headaches are not prevalent and do not represent a danger to life. Episodic cluster headaches and chronic cluster headaches are the two main types of cluster headaches. Consulting a cluster headache treatment specialist can reduce the occurrence and severity of cluster headache.