Cluster Headaches

Diagnosis

Because much of a diagnosis depends on a patient's description of his or her headaches, doctors often recommend keeping a journal, to record for each headache:

• The date and time
• What the pain feels like
• How strong the pain is
• Where the pain is located
• How long the pain lasts
• Any medications taken

Doctors also perform a neurologic examination to check for physical signs of a cluster headache and perform blood and CT (computed tomography) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) tests to rule out other causes for the headaches.