Headaches are common and affect over four million Americans. Headaches vary in severity, but medical experts recommend you seek medical attention even when you think you are experiencing acute pain. It is crucial to understand how you can range the severity of your headache, and Dr. Ruchir Gupta in Phoenix can help you evaluate the potential severity of your condition. This is critical in ensuring that you take the right approach towards managing your symptoms. Understanding how to range your symptoms can help you give accurate information to your doctor leading to an accurate diagnosis of your condition. The information herein can help you judge your headaches’ severity.

Detect a Primary Headache

Health experts have classified headaches into two basic types, and you need to differentiate between the two. Primary headaches are those recurrent symptoms without an underlying cause. A primary headache can be mild or chronic but differentiated since it is not associated with an underlying disease. In most cases, they occur due to exposure to common triggers like frigid temperatures or when coughing excessively or after sexual intercourse. Migraines, cluster headaches, and tension headaches are common primary headaches.

Know a Secondary Headache

You can experience headache as a symptom signifying other underlying medical conditions. If you experience a secondary chronic headache, consider it more severe than a primary headache since the underlying cause could be life-threatening. Therefore, if you know you have underlying medical complications that could be causing your headache, would you please seek medical attention as soon as possible. Be aware of conditions like concussions, stroke, whiplash, seizures, HIV/AIDS, allergies, high blood pressure, and meningitis, as they are the leading causes of secondary headaches.

Note the Length of the Headache

Chronic headaches can be classified into three categories depending on their duration. While all chronic headaches are primary headaches, you can experience a migraine, cluster headache, or tension headache. Migraines are more intense than other forms and can last for up to 24 hours and happen consequently for up to three days. Cluster headaches will occur for about thirty minutes to an hour and can occur regularly for several days and then disappear. But for tension headaches, they last less than half an hour and are mainly triggered by difficulty or stress from work, school, or any other social situation.

Consider Other Side Effects

Depending on the severity, you will probably experience other symptoms when you have headaches. Generally, a short headache will have fewer side effects than a more chronic headache. Tension headaches will be associated with mild or moderate symptoms, mainly pain around your head, neck, and shoulders. But you can experience more severe symptoms with cluster headaches such as stabbing eye pain, runny or stuffy nose, facial or forehead sweating, and eye irritation. Migraines will have the worst side effects, such as vomiting and nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and visual disturbances.

Assess the Location of the Headache

In most times, acute headaches will only affect a portion of your head before fading away. But chronic headaches can affect your head, neck, and shoulders. Note that the larger the body parts affected by headache, the more severe your situation is.

A medical expert should diagnose any headache. Reach out to Mountain View Headache and Spine Institute today if you tend to experience headaches. Understanding the severity of your condition will help you make the right treatment approach.