Pain is a complex issue, and not all pain is the same. To help you use get the most from the Paintalk Web site please first determine what kind of pain you have.

• Throbbing: This type of pain beats very fast with each beat of your heart. It hurts a great deal when you shake your head fast. If this describes your pain, your pain is probably vascular or has to do with your blood vessels. Migraines are this type of headache. We call this a vascular headache.
• Steady pain or constant pain: The words steady or constant refer to the description of the pain not how long it lasts. This type of pain may slowly get worse, or we could say slowly throbs. Most of the time this type of pain builds as the day goes on. This type of pain is usually muscle-related.
• Burning pain: This type of pain can also be described as pain that comes on quickly or pain that is electric like. This type of pain is a problem with the nerve itself. Nerves transmit the message of pain, but when the pain is described as burning or electric like pain, it is a problem with the nerve itself.

(Click the link above that describes your pain to find out more about your specific pain.)

Muscle Pain Headache Symptoms: Muscle symptoms of headaches include pain on one or both sides of the head. Pain is usually dull or pressure-like or could be described as very slow, throbbing (but not as fast as your heart beat). The pain can be very severe but not like a pain that you suddenly grab the area in pain. Shaking your head very fast does not make the pain especially worse. A pressure or numb feeling may precede he pain. It is many times worse in the evening. Generally with muscle pain you will have difficulty falling asleep and you will awaken 1+ times during the night.

Causes of muscle-related headaches: Muscle-related headaches have many causes and in most people there are several causes of the muscle-related headache. Below is a list of some of the causes:

1. Referred pain... pain that has its origin somewhere different then where you hurt, these are trigger points
2. Over use the same muscles (repetition of the same task)
3. Jaw dysfunction or bite, the way your upper teeth come together with your lower teeth
4. Whiplash from a motor vehicle accident or other trauma
5. Posture of the head, neck, shoulders, and upper back
6. Ergonomics... the way your work station in as office, factory, or home is set up
7. Difficulty going to sleep and 1 or more awakenings at night
8. Neck dysfunction... loss of range of motion (inability to turn your head in all directions without pain)
9. Weak neck, upper back, and shoulder muscles
10. Stress which causes you to tighten up your muscles
11. Cold air blowing on you
12. Missing meals, too much sugar, and not enough protein or carbohydrates
13. Rebound pain... if you use prescription or over-the-counter pain pills more than two times per week, you may have rebound pain.

Treatment of muscle-related headaches requires attention to all of the causes. Many muscular-related headaches involve treating sleep and occlusion (the way your teeth come together). We usually also have to treat neck pain in order to manage muscle-related headaches. For more detail in treatment for muscle-related headaches, watch the TMD video.

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Nerve Pain Headache Symptoms:

Headache pain caused by the nerve itself is called neuralgia. Neuralgia in the head is the most debilitating of all pain. Nerve pain is called by the name of the nerve. There are 12 nerves that come out of the brain (cranial nerves). The most common of all neuralgias in the head is from the 5th nerve, also called the trigeminal nerve, or trigeminal neuralgia. This pain is described as "coming out of nowhere like an electric shock with waves of pain coming quickly and severely. It is horrible, but it comes quickly and leaves quickly.

Another type of neuralgia is called NICO, which has symptoms similar to trigeminal neuralgia and in some cases may actually cause trigeminal neuralgia. The pain may be triggered by eating. It is almost always associated with dental or tooth pain. It presents itself as a bad toothache which also causes pain in other places than the teeth.

Causes of neuralgia-related headaches: Most of the time we don't know what causes neuralgia. It is very frustrating for the patient and the doctor. Thankfully we know how to treat neuralgia even though we don't know what causes this awful pain. Causes of NICO-related neuralgias can usually be treated. The cause is usually dental related, associated with an abscess, root canal, or extraction.

Treatment of neuralgia-related headaches involves medication and staying away from certain foods. Treating NICO related headaches involves finding the site of the hidden infection and treating it with a minor surgery procedure for 4-6 weeks.

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Vascular Headache Symptoms: A headache caused by vascular dysfunction is

described as throbbing very quickly in rhythm with your heart beat. It hurts to walk or move your head quickly. Migraines are a type of vascular headache. With a migraine headache, you may be very light sensitive or sensitive to certain smells or loud noises. Nausea is a very common symptom. It is quite common (we don't know why) to begin a migraine at 4:00 a.m. while sleeping.

Sinus infections also throb and hurt when you move. Another common, throbbing headache can be a tension-type headache.

Causes of Vascular Headache Pain: Migraines can be caused by

1. Bright flashing lights
2. Eating certain foods
3. Stress
4. Can be brought on by other pain such as muscle-related headaches, and this is called a "mixed headache."
5. Infections of sinus or teeth

Treatment of Vascular-related headaches in the case of migraines can include limiting or eliminating certain foods, as well as taking blood pressure medication. Certain anti-seizure medications, like Immitrex or Zomig are most commonly used to abort migraines when you have 3-4 migraines per month. Other vascular-related headaches can be treated with over-the-counter pain medication.

It is interesting to note that many migraine headaches can be helped by using an oral splint in addition to migraine medication. There appears to be a crossover benefit in treating muscle-related headaches in 40% of migraine patients.

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