One of the most agonizing forms of headaches is cluster headaches, manifesting in cyclical patterns called cluster periods. You may have severe pain in or near one eye on one side of your head during a cluster headache, often waking you up in the middle of the night.
Cluster periods, also known as bursts of frequent attacks, may last from weeks to months and are often followed by remission periods during which the headaches subside. The absence of headaches lasts for weeks, perhaps even months, throughout remission.
Fortunately, cluster headaches are uncommon and not fatal. Cluster headache bouts might be less frequent and severe with the help of treatments. Additionally, medicines might lessen the frequency of your cluster headaches.
Symptoms
Although you may first have migraine-like nausea and an aura, cluster headaches often occur suddenly and without warning. Common headache warning signs and symptoms include:
- Pain usually in, behind, or around one eye, it may also spread to other parts of your face, head, and neck
- Uneven discomfort
- Restlessness
- A lot of tears
- Your afflicted eye on the affected side is red
- The afflicted side’s nose is congested or running
- Sweating on the afflicted side of the forehead or face
- Pale skin (pallor) or facial flushing
- The area surrounding your afflicted eye is swollen
- Drooping eyelid on the side that is afflicted
Contrary to migraineurs, cluster headache sufferers are more inclined to pace or rock back and forth while sitting. Although they often affect one side, specific migraine-like symptoms, such as sensitivity to light and sound, may accompany a cluster headache.
Characteristics Of The Cluster Period
Typically, a cluster phase lasts from a few weeks to months. Each cluster period’s beginning time and length might remain the same from one period to the next. Examples of seasonal cluster periods are every spring or every autumn.
Episodic cluster headaches are common. In cases with episodic cluster headaches, the headaches continue for a week to a year, then go away for three months or more before returning.
- Pain-free intervals may last less than one month during chronic cluster episodes that last more than a year.
- Every day, often many times a day, headaches are common.
- An assault might last for anything between 15 minutes and three hours.
- The assaults often happen every day at the same time.
- The majority of assaults happen at night, often 1-2 hours after you go to sleep.
- The severity of the pain often decreases quickly and stops abruptly as it starts. Most victims of assaults are not in agony, but they are worn out.
When to See a Doctor
If you’ve recently begun to have cluster headaches, see your doctor to rule out other conditions and choose the best course of action.
Even in extreme cases, headache discomfort is often not caused by an underlying illness. The rupture of a weak blood artery (aneurysm) or a brain tumor are two dangerous underlying medical conditions that headaches might sometimes indicate.
Additionally, if your pattern of headaches changes or they start to feel different all of a sudden, see a doctor if you have a history of headaches.
If you have any of the following symptoms, get medical help right away:
- A terrible headache that comes on suddenly and sounds like thunder
- A headache accompanying a fever, nausea, vomiting, a stiff neck, mental disorientation, seizures, numbness, or difficulty speaking might be signs of various conditions, such as a brain tumor, stroke, meningitis, or encephalitis.
- Even after a slight bump or tumble, a headache with a head injury is common, particularly if it worsens.
- Unlike any headache you’ve ever experienced, it came on suddenly.
- A headache that gets worse over time and has a different pattern.
Causes
Although the precise etiology of cluster headaches is unclear, the cluster headache patterns point to the hypothalamus, the body’s circadian clock, as a potential contributing factor.
Contrary to migraines and tension headaches, cluster headache is often not brought on by triggers such as certain meals, hormonal changes, or stress.
However, consuming alcohol could swiftly bring on a splitting headache once a cluster phase starts. Because of this, many cluster headache sufferers abstain from drinking when they are experiencing a cluster.
The usage of drugs like nitroglycerin, a prescription used to treat heart problems, is another potential cause.
Risk Factors
Cluster headache risk factors include:
Sex
Cluster headaches affect more men than women.
Age
Cluster headaches often appear in adults between the ages of 20 and 50. However, they may occur at any age.
Smoking
Smokers are more likely to get cluster headache episodes. However, most of the time, quitting smoking has little impact on headaches.
Using Alcohol
If you often have cluster headaches, consuming alcohol at that time may make attacks more likely.
Family’s History
A parent or sibling with a cluster headache may make you more susceptible.
Diagnosis
Cluster headaches have a distinct pain kind and attack pattern. Your description of the attacks, including your pain, the location and intensity of your headaches, and any accompanying symptoms, can help the doctor diagnose.
Important variables include your headache frequency and duration.
Your doctor will likely use specific techniques to determine the nature and origin of your headache.
Neurological Testing
Your doctor may be able to find physical indicators of a neurological illness by doing a neurological examination. When a patient has cluster headaches, the exam is often unremarkable. Your doctor will do several tests on your senses, reflexes, and nerves to evaluate how well your brain is functioning.
Imaging Exams
To rule out more dangerous causes of head pain, such as a tumor or an aneurysm, your doctor may advise further testing if you have unusually severe or complex headaches or have an abnormal neurological examination. Typical brain imaging examinations include:
MRI. Using a strong magnetic field and radio waves creates precise pictures of your brain and blood arteries.
An MRI. This produces thorough cross-sectional pictures of your brain using a succession of X-rays.
Treatment
Cluster headaches have no known treatment. Treatment aims to lessen pain intensity, minimize headache duration, and stop episodes.
Cluster headaches may be challenging to diagnose and treat since they need fast-acting drugs and their pain might come on unexpectedly and go quickly.
Acute medicine of various kinds may swiftly reduce some discomfort. The most successful treatments for cluster headaches, both acute and preventative, are mentioned below.