We've all experienced it — head pain, pressure over the sinuses and congestion. Immediately we think "sinus headache." After all, that's what the TV commercials tell us it is.
But sinus headaches aren't as common as the pain-reliever industry would lead us to believe. In a study of 3,000 people who claimed to have had at least six sinus headaches in six months, almost 90 percent weren't suffering from sinus headaches at all. The cause of their pain was a migraine headache.
Migraines are often confused with sinus headaches because they both can exhibit sinus-related symptoms. You can have forehead pain and facial pressure with both types of headaches, plus nasal congestion, runny nose and watery eyes. In fact, in one study, 45 percent of migraine sufferers had a stuffy nose, watery eyes or both.
While both headaches can wreak havoc on your sinuses, you may be able to tell one from the other when you blow your nose. Because a true sinus headache is part of a sinus infection, your nasal mucous will generally be thick and greenish. Not to mention, you'll probably also have a fever accompanying the infection.
But even knowing you have a sinus infection doesn't prove your headache is a sinus headache. The true test is when you treat it. If a course of antibiotics doesn't relieve your symptoms, you might have a migraine instead. The same holds true for "allergy-related headaches." If your headache doesn't respond to allergy medications, a migraine could be causing your pain.
One of the main hazards in not properly identifying a migraine is also not properly treating it. For instance, if you repeatedly take aspirin or other pain-relieving drugs containing caffeine, they may relieve the pain in the short term. They also can cause your migraines to become more severe and frequent, though.
Rebound headaches are caused when medication wears off, because that sometimes triggers a withdrawal reaction or a new headache. The pain, in turn, prompts you to take more medication that spawns yet another withdrawal headache. And so on and so on.
There are also more obvious symptoms that point to a migraine over other headaches. Migraines generally are characterized by a pulsing pain that can worsen if you bend over or even go up stairs. These headaches can make you nauseous as well as sensitive to strong light, noise, odors or sudden movements. As a result of their severity, migraines can be more incapacitating than other headaches.
An estimated 28 million Americans suffer from migraines, so these headaches are probably more prevalent than you think.
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