Diagnosing A Migraine Or Headache

How do you tell if you have a migraine or a tension headache?
Although there are similarities between the two major types a key differentiator is the nausea vomiting, increased symptoms with exertion, severe pain and pain on one side all suggesting a migraine headache.  Most tension headaches are easily recognizable so that most suffers realizing their pain will not visit their family doctors.  Many are afraid that their visit will be a waste of time, but it’s important not to ignore severe symptoms. Pain is our body's signal or warning light tell us about an injury.  Although headaches are rarely the symptom of a serious injury, they may indicate a serious medical condition. 

Seek medical attention immediately if you have any of these symptoms:  
a suddenly onset accompanied by neurological signs such as slurred speech, loss of balance or disorientation, weakness, falling, numbness or tingling, confusion, paralysis, confusion, seizure, memory loss, personality changes or behaviour that is inappropriate, blurry vision or a high fever. This can indicate a much more serious problem, such as a stroke, tumor, or an aneurysm.  Pain that wakes you up at night, headache that occurs after a head injury, an onset that coincides with the development of a rash, severe vomiting and nausea or getting headaches different from previous headaches after age 55 are other times to seek immediate medical attention.

The following symptoms suggest a need to contact your doctor, but do not need immediate care:  You experience headaches more than 3 times during a week, your headache gets progressively worse and won't go away, your episode lasts longer than a week, you are taking pain medication almost daily, your headaches are triggered by coughing, bending or sneezing, you have a history of headaches, but have observed a recent change in your symptoms.

A differential diagnosis could be spinal meningitis, swelling of the brain, acute glaucoma, temporal arteritis, blood clot.
People suffering from Chronic daily headaches have usually been given a diagnosis of migraine in the past although there are many causes.  Most overuse medications which cause the headaches to become chronic.

Some imaging tests a doctor gives to severe headache sufferers may be a CT scan, or a MRI.  They may be given under the following circumstances: If the patient history and physical examination suggest a neurologic problem, a fever, the cause of the headache is unknown and the symptoms are severe, headaches that do not respond to treatment or to rule out other disorders.

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