Cluster Headache
From Expert System: Headache
Cluster headaches are violent attacks associated with extremely severe, stabbing pain on one side of the head, often with the sensation of a hot poker stuck in the eyeball. The condition is not common, occurring in less than 1 person in 1,500.
Sufferers, the great majority of whom are male, can awaken with attacks, or headaches may occur suddenly without warning. Associated symptoms include redness of one eye with excessive tearing, droopy eyelid, sometimes puffy, and a stuffy or runny nose on the same side. Cluster headache, unlike migraine in which the patients seek quiet, are usually turbulent affairs with extreme restlessness. Patients usually are sitting, but often pace the floor, rock their head or body, and may even bang their head against the wall for distraction or relief.
Attacks are brief, usually lasting 30-90 minutes, but may occur for as little as a few minutes and last up to three hours, sometimes with multiple attacks in one day. These attacks come on in clusters (hence the name) over a period of one to several months, with headache-free intervals which may last months or years. Some authorities classify these headaches as a subtype of migraine.
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