Cluster Headaches

One of the most painful headaches, cluster headaches, often strikes in cyclical patterns and lasts a long time. While they only affect one side of your head, they’re so painful. They can disrupt your life. Worse, there are no medications that work safely to ease the pain of cluster headaches. Consult with a headache specialist like Dr. Amr Hosny at the Advanced Headache Center. With eight locations in Manhattan and across Bergen County, New Jersey, you can find cluster headache treatment near you. You don’t have to suffer when the best cluster headache treatment is just a phone call away. Call Dr. Hosny today.

What Are Cluster Headaches?

Cluster headaches are among the most painful headaches you can experience. The pain can be so intense that it even wakes you up in the middle of the night. They’re called cluster headaches because they tend to strike within a specific time of cluster periods. They typically affect just one side of your head, not both.

Between 200,000 to a million people in the U.S. reportedly suffer from this type of headache. About 12 percent of these have been diagnosed with chronic headaches, which means these painful headaches occur for longer periods that happen more frequently.

Cluster headaches tend to come and go in cycles that follow certain patterns, such as:

• The most common cluster headache pain phase lasts several weeks to several months. Usually, the period is consistent throughout your lifetime. For example, you may get these headaches every spring or every fall.
• Episodic cluster headaches continue for a week but can last up to a year. When they stop, the pain-free remission lasts for months or even years before the episodic pain phase starts again.
• Chronic cluster headaches cause continuous pain for longer than a year. And once they stop, you may get less than a month of the pain-free phase before they start anew.

Most cluster headache sufferers fall between the ages of 20 to 50. Since the pain is constant and often unbearable, your best bet for relief is to seek medical help from a headache specialist at the earliest possible opportunity. With offices in NYC and Paramus, NJ (and throughout Bergen County), the Advanced Headache Center provides the best cluster headache treatment options.

What Symptoms Do Cluster Headaches Cause?

While the type of cluster headaches you have influenced what you experience, you can expect some common symptoms.

Cluster headache sufferers cite symptoms that include:

• The excruciating pain that strikes several times in a day, every day, always at the same times
• Pain that radiates from behind or around one of your eyes, although the pain sometimes moves to your face, head, and neck
• Pain that you notice only on one side of your head
• A feeling of restlessness
• Forehead and face sweats that aren’t caused by any other reason
• Pale or flushed face skin
• Swelling around the affected eye
• A drooping eyelid
• Eye redness
• A stuffy or runny nose
• Excessive tearing up
• Pain that can last for 15 minutes or up to three hours
• Pain that usually starts one or two hours after going to bed at night

None of these symptoms are pleasant. Some are merely annoying, while others are incapacitating. Seek medical attention from Dr. Amr Hosny, the pain management physician at the Advanced Headache Center, for fast and effective cluster headache treatments. He has the experience and training to address your pain.

How Important Is a Diagnosis for Cluster Headaches?

Cluster headaches can strike without any warning. Initially, you may feel nauseous, which may make you think you’re suffering from a migraine headache. As there are several different types of headaches, you must consult with a specialist during the initial phase for an accurate diagnosis.

Other types of headaches include:

• Optical migraines
• Hemiplegic migraines
• Basilar migraines
• Cervicogenic headaches
• Tension headaches
• Sinus headaches
• Allergy headaches
• Spinal headaches
• Rebound headaches

Your cluster headache treatment depends upon an accurate diagnosis. The Advanced Headache Center uses the latest diagnostic technology and relies on the experience of expert specialists. You’re more likely to get an accurate diagnosis for your headache at one of their locations than from a general practitioner.

What Causes Cluster Headaches?

Science has yet to discover the reasons behind cluster headaches. Like migraines, there are no conclusive causes known. But while no definitive reason has been found, several indicators suggest you’re at risk, including:

• About one in 20 people suffering from cluster headaches have family members with the same condition.
• While women can suffer from cluster headaches, men are five to six times more likely to have the condition.
• Drinking can aggravate cluster headaches, which is why most sufferers abstain from alcohol during the pain phase.
• A hypothalamus problem. Some studies suggest that the body’s biological clock may be malfunctioning, which triggers headaches.
• The heart disease drug, unfortunately, triggers cluster headaches for some people.
• People who smoke tend to get cluster headaches more than non-smokers.

If you’re in a risk group for cluster headaches — or if you suffer them already — avoid as many of these factors as possible. If you find your headaches getting worse, seek medical attention from an expert like Dr. Hosny at his top headache center.

Which Cluster Headache Treatment Works Best?

The best cluster headache treatment starts with an accurate diagnosis from the Advanced Headache Center at one of their locations in Manhattan or northern New Jersey. Personalized cluster headache treatment plans fit your symptoms and lifestyle.

Available treatment options that your specialist may recommend include:

• Oxygen therapy
• Sumatriptan injections and nasal sprays
• Lidocaine nasal spray
• An occipital nerve block
• Lithium carbonate
• Calcium channel blockers
• Deep brain stimulation

Listen to your headache specialist about these cluster headache treatments. Watch for the preliminary signs, so you know when to seek treatment. Contact Dr. Hosny whenever you’re ready to take steps to combat the pain and isolation of cluster headaches. He can accurately diagnose your condition and deliver the best cluster headache treatment for your particular case.