Description of Headache

Except perhaps for head colds, headaches are probably the most common human ailment. Three out of four Americans had a headache during the past year, according to the National Headache Foundation. Usually, headaches are merely passing annoyances that go away with aspirin or after a nap, but as many as 45 million people suffer from chronic and/or severe headaches that seriously interfere with their lives.

All told, headaches account for 80 million of all doctors' office visits and more than 400 million dollars spent on over-the-counter pain relievers each year. Like colds, headaches are not completely understood by scientists. There appears to be various types of headaches, but any hard and fast classification is open to debate, in part, because the types often overlap - both in symptoms and in response to medication. Moreover, triggering factors and modes of relief vary from person to person. Still, the great majority of primary headaches (those not due to underlying diseases) falls into three categories, according to the International Headache Society: tension, migraine and cluster. More...

Frequent headaches can interfere with your daily life. But healthy lifestyle choices can help you head off the pain. Start with the basics, including diet, exercise and relaxation. More...