Differences between migraine and cluster headache: symptoms

The person in charge of the sectionSEMES Disclosure‘of the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicinethe emergency nurse, Rosa Perez, has highlighted that Emergency Nursing triage is “key” when it comes to distinguishing between a migraine and headache in clusters and the subsequent referral of the patient to the neurologist.

The nurse “has to be prepared to ask a series of questions to assess the severity” and “has to be well trained in this type of triage, in headaches,” to know how to “distinguish,” Pérez said in statements to Europa Press. This is because the treatment is different for these two diseases.

In this regard, he has insisted on the relevance of this first contact with the patient, “to avoid diagnostic-therapeutic delay.” In fact, a “differential diagnosis” is necessary, since “it may be cluster headache or It could be a vascular problem.”he has asserted.

On the occasion of the celebration, this Saturday, March 21, of the International Cluster Headache Dayrecalled that “within headaches there are different types”, the primary ones being all those “in which the cause has not yet been established.” “They would encompass tension headaches, which are perhaps the most common, migraines and these cluster headaches,” he explained.

Accompanying symptoms

Addressing the differentiation between migraine and headache in clustershas indicated that the latter “can generally be presented behind the eye like a stabbing pain and, also, many people have said that it can be like urgent, like burning“. This “will have accompanying symptoms”, and that is that “your eye will cry” and “many times your eyelid will even feel droopy, closed”, he pointed out, also highlighting the sensation of runny nose.

“You’re going to be in horrible pain,” has stated, without ambiguity, while affirming that migraine “many times warns you”, while Cluster headache “usually comes suddenly, fulminantly”. Additionally, “it’s always the same time” and “it’s usually at night,” all without a known cause, although genetics plays an important role and there are triggers, such as stress, lack of sleep, dehydration, changes in lifestyle and hormonal alterations.

Nevertheless, that pain “comes and goes”, since “it can last between 15, 30, 40 minutes”, and “it can even be longer”, so “it runs like sprouts.” “Instead, migraine can last all day, even up to two days in a row“, he stated, after which he stated that this “is often accompanied by digestive symptoms, for example, nausea, vomiting“, although the pain is less intense.

Regarding treatment, López has highlighted that, in cluster headaches, “it includes, for example, oxygen, melatoninsome medications that are related to other pathologies of the central nervous system” and even “there are also some surgical possibility“, so it is very personalized. For its part, In migraine, drugs “that go directly to the neurological pain pathways” are used.

Consult the professional

The chronic cluster headache disease also has a preventive treatmentin which the triptan family comes into play, which are serotonin receptor agonists. In any case, “the important thing is to know that in the event of strong, strong, strong pain, the person consults it,” he emphasized.

On the other hand, this nurse, who has reported that this pathology is more common in men, Although it is associated “with hormonal changes” in women, he explained that it is closely linked to the circadian rhythm of sleep. For this reason, it encourages writing down everything related to the moment of the headache and thus supporting the work of the health professional with data.

However, and pointing out that there is a lack of research in this pathology, López has indicated that patients “they arrive late for a diagnosis”. “It is difficult for us to differentiate it from a migraine, it is difficult for us to differentiate it from a tension headache or a primary headache,” he stated, concluding by highlighting the importance of training.