Cluster headaches: symptoms, causes, treatment

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Cluster headaches are a fairly rare disorder, usually affecting men between the ages of twenty and forty. This disease is often considered quite mysterious, it is difficult to identify its exact causes, treatment of the disorder is also difficult due to unpredictability of attacks, their intensity and rapid decline in pain in this case. It is worth knowing what are called the main risk factors for developing cluster headaches, how to prevent repeated attacks.

Cluster headache: what is this

This phrase is called seizures of acute, extremely intense pain, usually located on one side of the head in the eye area, usually around it. Attacks occur without a pronounced cause, usually at one time of day. Painful sensations during an attack can be so intense that they can provoke a suicide attempt, such cases were recorded.

In women, this disease is rare, usually it affects men of working age. The attack of cluster headache lasts from fifteen minutes to an hour, the time of its occurrence depends on the biorhythms of a particular person. One of the main difficulties is called the unpredictability of seizures, so a person simply does not have time to take an anesthetic medicine, the pain comes and goes too quickly.

Scientists involved in the study of cluster headaches have revealed several similarities in most men suffering from this disease. However, medicine can not explain why these features are present. The scientists found that most men with pain have high growth, developed musculature, large jaw, rough skin, bright eyes.

Men who smoke cigarettes in large volumes also have a greater propensity for cluster headaches. The use of alcohol does not affect the onset of the disease, it can only worsen the condition during a series of seizures.

Explain these patterns to the present day, scientists are at a loss, and there are also no assumptions about how to avoid the development of the disease. However, if the disease is identified, modern medicine can offer several methods of treatment that will help to remove the effects of bouts of pain and, if possible, avoid the next.

The code of the disease according to the ICD-10 registry is G44.0.However, this information is usually required exclusively by specialists, the patient herself does not say much.

Important! Sometimes cluster headaches are considered a type of migraine, but these diseases have completely different nature and methods of treatment.

Causes of

To date, specialists find it difficult to explain the causes of seizures. However, there is a connection between biological rhythms and the emergence of pain. Probably, people with cluster headaches are disturbed by the natural regulation of sleep and wake cycles, due to erroneous signals, cerebral activity causes painful attacks.

There are no external factors influencing the onset of cluster headache. The occurrence of the disease can not be affected, therefore, there are also no preventive measures against pathology.

Highlights the link between smoking in large volumes and the occurrence of bouts of pain, but if a person stops smoking, episodes still remain. Therefore, it is rather difficult to call smoking one of the causes of cluster headaches, although experts recommend immediately dropping a bad habit when a disease is detected.

Symptoms of

The main symptom of cluster pain is a strong, extremely intense pain in the eye area, usually on one side of the head. It occurs at night, the attack lasts no more than an hour. In the future, pain in seizures can spread to the second part of the head. Also note the following symptoms:

1. In a series of attacks, pain occurs at the same time every day, usually at night, in women, pain is not associated with the stage of the menstrual cycle.
2. During the episode, tachycardia may occur, the eyesight may be disturbed, the face may turn red, and there is no disease of the cardiovascular system.
3. Episodes most often occur in the spring?in autumn, at other times of the year they are not active.

With these symptoms it is important to consult a doctor right away. When diagnosing, you should make sure that these symptoms are not signs of migraine and other diseases.

What can result in a cluster headache

In severe attacks of pain there are no negative consequences in themselves, note that with age in chronic episodes the condition gradually improves. In the absence of preventive treatment, the intensity of pain attacks decreases over time.

However, this disease sometimes has another dangerous consequence. Pain in seizures is so strong that some people try to commit suicide in order to get rid of it. In addition, it usually occurs at night, after a person goes to bed, which significantly affects the regime, provokes a lack of sleep, reduces the performance of the person as a whole.

Important! Quite often the patient experiences only one series of episodes in a lifetime, then the disease disappears without a trace without consequences.

How often it can be repeated

In severe cases, seizures can be repeated several times a night, in general there is usually a sequence of several episodes, after which the disease may not manifest itself for several months, years and even decades.

The duration of a sequence of episodes can be from several days to several months, the patient usually experiences from one to several bouts of painful sensations per day. During this period it is extremely undesirable to drink alcoholic beverages.

To which doctor should

be used If there is a suspicion of cluster pain in the head, you should consult a neurologist. Usually, the diagnosis can be made after the analysis of symptoms, although it is usually advised to immediately carry out MRI, CT, sometimes the picture is supplemented with ECG, other studies.

To consult a doctor advise after the first attack, subsequently recommend keeping a headache diary, noting the time of occurrence of the episode, its intensity, other symptoms present in it. This will help with the diagnosis, selection of suitable treatment.

How to treat cluster headaches

It is impossible to completely get rid of seizures and prevent their occurrence in the future, however, preventive treatment will help to start easier to transfer episodes, the pain will not be so pronounced.

For particularly severe, chronic episodes, it is recommended to undergo treatment at the clinic. The most common method is the use of an oxygen mask, it requires a gas cylinder and a mask. This technique should be used under the supervision of a specialist, so that it is as effective as possible and does not provoke side effects.

Treatment at home

At home, you can remove the effects of an attack: after it usually lays the ears, they begin to ache, there is tachycardia and rhythm disturbances, problems with sleeping. With these purposes, a number of drugs are used, before using them, one should consult a doctor.

To relieve pain and stuffiness in the ears, ear drops are used in case of cluster headache: Otipax and its analogues with analgesic effect, lidocaine. In short-term episodes, which are often repeated, corticosteroids are used. Prednisolone is usually used, this drug is most effective.

For preventive treatment, calcium channel blockers are used, usually in combination with Prednisolone. The most effective drug of this group is Verapamil, it rarely causes side effects, therefore it is used most actively.

Folk remedies

Traditional medicine is not effective for cluster headaches, but some folk remedies can help cope with the effects of an attack in the form of tachycardia and stress.

To make episodes of painful feelings easier, it is recommended to include walnuts and turmeric in the diet. They contain substances useful for headaches of different origins. Every day it is advised to eat a few walnuts in pure form, turmeric should be added as a seasoning for food.

In general, with properly selected preventive treatment, attacks will become easier to tolerate. It is important to constantly monitor your conditions, keep a diary of observations, to monitor the dynamics of changes in this disease.