Dangerous Types of Headaches

It's IMPORTANT to identify which type of headache we're experiencing to prevent more critical issues.

Almost everyone have experienced headache.

The differences are that it might happen in a short period and is not overly painful, and it happens in a prolonged time and is overly painful.

Nevertheless, we need to identify the headaches that we experienced to know if it is something common or dangerous that can be harmful to our health.

All this time, some may think that headaches must be caused by dizziness. However, it is imperative to identify the types of headaches that one is experiencing.

Pantai Hospital Ayer Keroh Internal Medicines Consultant, Dr. Mohd Fikri Nasir said that there are two categories of headaches, which are primary and secondary.

He said that the primary type of headaches may disturb daily activities, but it is usually not harmful to the patients' health.

However, the secondary type of headaches needs to be identified as it might endanger patients' lives.

"The primary type of headaches include migraine, tension headache and cluster headache. Statistics shown that women are more prone to experience migraine compared to men.

"The types of headaches can be identified based on the pattern of the headache symptoms such as the location, frequency, and duration of the headache.

"For these three types of headaches, it can be treated by taking medicines like paracetamol, 'non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs' (NSAID) or triptans. For migraine patients, they should avoid consuming certain food such as chocolate, cheese or coffee," he said.

Mohd Fikri said that for the secondary type of headaches, it is imperative to ensure that there are no other diseases that can cause the headache.

Examples of this disease are brain tumors, brain hemorrhage, and meningitis. The secondary headache category is typically more serious and needs immediate treatment.

According to him, there are a few dangerous symptoms (red flags) that need to be paid more attention and patients need to see their doctors if they experience them.

Symptoms of this include frequent headaches for those who are over 50 years old, sudden severe headaches, fever, and a decrease in body weight.

"When patients experience worse headaches while lying down (positional headache), they need to get treatment and undergo Computerized Tomography or CT Scan because this might be a sign that there are tumors in their heads.

"Other symptoms that need to be paid attention as well are when there are nerve disorder such as difficulty in raising hands, impaired vision or loss of body balance," he said.

For more info about Dr. Mohd Fikri, click here.