Headaches are a common phenomenon in neurology. Almost 70% of all Germans experience a phase of headache or facial pain at least once in their lives, which significantly impairs their everyday life. The causes are manifold, neurology distinguishes more than 200 different types of headache from various causes. These different forms of headache can be broadly classified into 3 categories:
- Primary headache e.g. tension headache, migraine, cluster headache
- Secondary headache
Here the headache occurs as a symptom of another underlying disease (e.g. brain tumours, infections, inflammatory vascular processes, etc.). - Headache or facial pain caused by irritation of a cranial nerve, such as trigeminal neuralgia
In most cases it is a harmless symptom, e.g. a tension headache or a migraine, which can be clarified neurologically at rest - but there are also Warning symptoms, that necessitate immediate neurological examination:
- Within seconds onset of devastating headache ("thunder headache")
- First occurrence after the age of 50
- Headache character not previously known
- Neurological accompanying signs (e.g. paralysis, dizziness, speech, gait, visual disturbances...)
- Neck stiffness (meningismus)
- Epileptic seizure
- recent fall injury involving the head
- Disturbance of consciousness (from severe drowsiness to unconsciousness)
- Psychological change
- Signs of infection such as high fever
- Simultaneous treatment with blood-thinning substances (e.g. Marcumar, Xarelto...)
- Morning vomiting
Further information
German Migraine and Headache Society e.V. (DMKG)
www.dmkg.de
Stop the headache - Self-help training for children and adolescents.
An offer of the Georg-August-University Göttingen, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy.
www.stopp-den-kopfschmerz.de
Migraine League e.V.
Largest German self-help organisation for migraine sufferers with over 100 self-help groups (national and international) as well as the "Migräne Magazin" as a professional organ. It offers help for self-help for sufferers and their relatives and holds several symposia every year.
www.migraeneliga.de
Cluster Headache Self-Help Groups (CSG) e.V.
The official website of the federal association of self-help groups for cluster headache sufferers and their relatives.
www.clusterkopf.de
Headache calendar for download
www.dmkg.de