According to the Mayo Clinic; there is no cure. The treatment goal is to reduce the duration and decrease the pain according to them.
Said to be the most painful types of headache. A stabbing pain usually lasts between 15 minutes and two or three hours. Affects one side of the head, usually behind or in and around one eye.
It may radiate to the forehead, temple, nose, cheek, or upper gum on the affected side. The scalp may be tender, and the pulsing in the arteries often can be felt.
A striking feature of cluster headache is that the attacks occur in recurring patterns, or as they say… clusters, that gives its name.
Frequent attacks that occur in recurring patterns, may last from weeks to months, with periods of remission. The pattern maybe different from one person to the next, but most have them seasonal and one episode period year.
There is a remission period, and that too, varies from person to person. This could be months or years.
Cluster headaches have been linked with people that smoke and drink alcohol frequently. Increased sensitivity to alcohol and nicotine should be a given. Small amounts of alcohol can set off a headache. During a remission period a person may consume alcohol without even aggravating a headache.
Other Treatments:
Operating on the trigeminal nerve to relieve symptoms in some people. A calcium channel blocker, also used to treat high blood pressure, may help prevent or reduce the frequency of cluster attacks. I for one … Will try to avoid surgery till I have tried other alternatives. But that is a personal choice.
Treatment suggested:
In my opinion, headaches of these types have a common ingredient. There seems to be pooling or an increase amount of blood in the brain that may cause this pain.
I found that my patients have responded well to my treatment, adjustments in the upper cervicals and has decreased the frequency of these headaches as well.
