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Guidelines for sites linking to mayoclinic.orgMayo Clinic has several nationally recognized headache specialists who see patients with all types of headaches and are very familiar with the diagnosis and treatment of cluster headaches. Mayo Clinic headache specialists have published studies and articles in many professional journals, providing a wealth of resources for hard-to-diagnose or hard-to-treat headache patients. Because of the severity of cluster headaches, patients are often given expedited appointments. Effective therapy is available for cluster headaches.
A diagnosis of cluster headaches depends on a patient's description of the type of pain and pattern of attacks. A comprehensive evaluation including brain imaging and blood tests is also performed to make certain that the patient who has cluster headaches does not have a secondary cause for his or her headaches. Read more about cluster headache diagnosis.
Though there is no cure, the goal of treatment is to decrease the severity of the pain and shorten the duration of the headache period. Mayo Clinic headache specialists work closely with patients to determine the most effective treatment. Read more about cluster headache treatment options.
A cluster headache is one of the most painful types of headache. A stabbing pain usually lasts between 15 minutes and two hours and affects one side of the head, usually around the eye. A striking feature of cluster headache is that the attacks occur in cyclical patterns, or clusters — which gives the condition its name.
Bouts of frequent attacks, in what is known as cluster periods, may last from weeks to months, followed by remission periods when the headache attacks stop completely. The pattern varies from person to person, but most people have one cluster period a year. During remission, no headaches occur for months, and sometimes even years. About 10 percent of cluster headache sufferers have a chronic form with no periods of remission.
Read more at
www.MayoClinic.com (opens in new window)
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Jeffrey Hughes is one of the first patients in the U.S. to undergo deep brain stimulation for his chronic headaches — and he is happy he had the courage to make that choice.
Read Jeffrey's story.
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