Cluster Headache Treatments and Coping With The Pain

For a small segment of the population, cluster headaches can cause severe pain with little warning.  Cluster headaches can strike seemingly random intervals, for which the name "cluster" is given.  Patients can go years without a single cluster headache, and suddenly suffer them for a period of weeks on end.  The exact cause of cluster headaches is not known, although it is thought that stress, alcohol, and drugs are all prompters of the condition.  Even without these factors, however, a cluster headache can strike a patient at any time.  A cluster headache is easy to differentiate from a normal headache because of its severity and distinct symptoms.

A sufferer of a cluster headache will often have a runny nose or eyes.  The pain tends to focus behind one eye, and can be explained as like having an icepick driven into the eye.  This extremely uncomfortable sensation sometimes becomes very painful, often times triggering a pain crisis in the patient.  The pain is often intense enough to trigger great emotional stress.  Immediate treatment is very important.  Sedatives and pain killers can do a great deal to mitigate the devastating pain frequently associated with a cluster headache.

Cluster headache treatment is not an exact science.  Instead of a lifelong regimen of medication, cluster headache treatment is usually a matter of lifestyle alteration.  Avoiding drugs and alcohol is an important first step in avoiding a triggering of cluster headaches.  Although prevention is difficult, cluster headache treatment measures such as powerful pain killers can be necessary to have on hand. 

Frequent cluster headaches should be a signal to see the doctor.  Although cluster headaches can occur without any discernable cause, they may sometimes be a sign of a deeper neurological issue.  If this is the case, it is important that treatment be sought as soon as possible.  Some forms of stress management can also help to reduce cluster headache occurence.  Although the role of stress in cluster headache treatment cannot be known for certain, it is thought to play a role, and could potentially have an effect on the cluster variety of headaches.  Significant emotional stress should be managed carefully to prevent a possible cluster headache occurence.