Mild Headache

• Mild Headache Overview
• Mild Headache Causes
• Mild Headache Symptoms
• When to Seek Medical Care
• Exams and Tests
• Mild Headache Treatment
• Self-Care at Home
• Medical Treatment
• Medications
• Next Steps
• Prevention
• Outlook
• For More Information
• Web Links
• Synonyms and Keywords
• Authors and Editors

Mild Headache Overview

Headaches are common but usually do not represent a serious illness. Even when headaches do not have a serious cause, they may be quite painful and disrupt your daily activities.

There are many different causes of headache. The pain in different types of headache varies in intensity, location, and duration. Another important feature that helps distinguish among different types of headache is the quality of the pain: whether it is sharp, dull, constant, intermittent, or pounding. Additional symptoms may accompany a headache:

• Dizziness
  
  
• Numbness or weakness
  
  
• Changes in vision
  
  
• Difficulty with balance
  
  
• Eye, ear, or facial pain
  
  
• Cold symptoms
  
  
• Fever

All these factors help determine whether or not a headache needs emergency treatment. Ultimately, the cause of the headache determines the best treatment.

• Headache can affect anyone, of any race, socioeconomic status, age, and gender.
  
  
• Stress and anxiety are reported to trigger some people’s headaches. Others find no apparent reason for theirs.
  
  
• The most common types of headache are known as tension-type, while the next most common are called migraine. What most people consider to be a mild headache is most often tension-type headache or a mix of tension-type and migraine.