How you treat headache depends on where the pain is coming from.

How you treat your headache depends on where the pain is coming from.

Tension

How it feels: A steady ache, pressure or tightness in a band around the head or neck. Pain on both sides.

Who gets it: Roughly 78 percent of adults have a tension-type headache at some point. Most headaches are tension-type.

Causes: Tense muscles in the shoulders, neck, scalp and jaw; anxiety or depression; biochemical fluctuations in the brain; overuse of pain medications.

Treatment: For daily headaches, a doctor can prescribe tricyclic antidepressants, anti-seizure drugs or beta-blockers to prevent attacks. Intermittent headaches respond to over-the-counter pain relievers and lifestyle adjustments. "You have to listen to your body and not ignore the signals, what is setting off this headache," said Dr. Daniel Hurley, a physiatrist.

Migraine

How it feels: Throbbing pain, usually on one side of the head, often with sensitivity to light and sound. Some people vomit. About 30 percent have aura, a set of neurological symptoms including visual disturbances.

Who gets it: About 13 percent of Americans suffer migraines. Afflicts three times more women than men.

Causes: Imbalances in brain chemicals affecting nerves in the brain; blood vessels that dilate and become inflamed.

Treatment: Avoid triggers like certain foods, stress or odors. Prescription triptans can reverse a migraine if taken early. Other drugs include beta-blockers, calcium-channel blockers, antidepressants or anti-seizure drugs. Doctors are experimenting with Botox. "It is effective in some people with daily headaches, but the studies have not been 100 percent," said headache specialist Dr. Seymour Diamond.

Sinus

How it feels: Dull pain over the forehead or face, often on both sides.

Who gets it: Fewer than you'd think. "A lot of things are called sinus headaches that are not sinus headaches," said Dr. Seymour Diamond. "It usually is migraine or tension headache."

Causes: Pressure changes caused by a sinus infection; a narrowed or blocked sinus opening.

Treatment: Antibiotics can clear a sinus infection. Surgery can open a blocked sinus.

Cluster

How it feels: Intense, stabbing pain usually behind one eye, lasting one to four hours and recurring in a cyclical pattern. It may involve tearing of the eye and a stuffy nose.

Who gets it: About 90 percent of sufferers are male.

Causes: May be related to abnormal levels of hormones released by the hypothalamus; smoking and alcohol can trigger an attack.

Treatment: Over-the-counter, oral painkillers take too long to work. Oxygen therapy and drugs used for migraines, including triptans, can help.

Cervicogenic

How it feels: Mimics a migraine or tension headache, often with pain around the eyes or face.

Who gets it: People with neck or shoulder tension, whiplash or other injuries, or degenerative disease. "I think it's underreported," said Dr. Daniel Hurleys.

Causes: Chronic tension; injury; disc disease; arthritis or spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spine that presses on nerves.

Treatment: Anti-inflammatory injections, muscle relaxants and painkillers. A doctor may also recommend physical therapy or chiropractic manipulation. Surgery can be an option.

Organic

How it feels: The "worst" headache you've ever had; headache pattern that is different than normal; headache associated with neurological symptoms like loss of consciousness or confusion.

Who gets it: These headaches are less common than primary headaches.

Causes: Tumors, infection, high blood pressure, blood clots, aneurysm, diseases of the brain, eye, ear or nose.

Treatment: A physician will treat the underlying condition causing headache symptoms.

Sources:

Dr. Seymour Diamond is founder of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago and executive chairman of the National Headache Foundation.

Dr. Daniel Hurley is a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch.