Cluster Headache Symptoms

Cluster Headache Symptoms and Cluster Migraines Information.

Although not as common as tension or migraine headaches, cluster headaches is a debilitating problem for many people. Cluster headache symptoms tend to be very pronounced and dramatic. One of the most prominent cluster headache symptoms is a stabbing or shocking sensation. This type of deep and sometimes excruciating pain usually begins around one eye or side of the face. This pain can sometimes extend into the lower face and neck, but in a majority of cases the area most severely affected by the cluster headache symptoms will remain around the eye area in which it began.

Unlike the symptoms of migraines or tension headaches, cluster headache symptoms do not usually include throbbing. After the initial stabbing sensation, the pain seems to settle into a deep ache. Another defining cluster headache symptom is the unique pattern in which the pain is felt. Painful attacks lasting anywhere from minutes to hours arrive in clusters over a period of time. These clusters can be stretched over a few days, or persist for weeks and even months at a time.

In many instances, cluster headache symptoms begin in the time period just after a person has fallen asleep. This can be very traumatic, as it wakes the person with severe pain. On occasion cluster headache symptoms can include a drooping of the eyelid and tearing of the eye on the side of the face which is experiencing the sharp pain. Another reported cluster headache symptom is congestion and the feeling of a "heaviness" of the sinus cavity on the effected side.

In many cases, patients report experiencing their first cluster headache symptoms in their teens or early twenties. These attacks can be isolated, but in most cases reoccur at some point during the patient’s life. Unlike other types of headaches where the person suffering the pain desires to be still and quiet, many of the sufferers of cluster headache symptoms become agitated, restless and sometimes even violent. If these symptoms are interrupting a person’s normal everyday functioning, a physician should be brought in to assess the case and determine the best course of pain management.

Author: Matthew Cardinallo, Cluster Migraines Information & Reviews