2000-08-14 12:36:00
Holly Firfer - CNN

ATLANTA (CNN) -- While headaches may seem like a minor annoyance to some people, they pose a major problem for millions of Americans. One in 10 Americans suffers from migraine headaches. Nearly twice that many -- some 45 million -- get some kind of headaches.

"Ninety percent of those are either migraine type headaches or tension type headaches," said neurologist Sarah DeRossett.

According to the National Headache Foundation, people spend an estimated billion a year trying to relieve their headache pain. Finding the source of the headache is the best way to know how to tackle it, doctors say.

"Make a note of when you have a headache attack, of what things occurred in the immediate day or so leading up to the attack," suggested DeRossett.

Such a diary may help to pinpoint a headache's type and trigger.

Dull or pressing pain on both sides of the head point to a tension or stress headache, often triggered by muscle tightening in the head and neck.

Intense, throbbing pain that is on one side of the head only, or is centered behind an eye may indicate a migraine. Migraine sufferers also may experience sensitivity to light and sound, nausea and visual changes.

Migraine triggering factors can include stress, missing meals, hormonal fluctuations, fatigue, glaring lights and foods such as ripened cheese, chocolate, red wine, yeast and nitrate-containing meats.

Regular exercise and sleep may help to prevent headache onset, but once the pain is present, consider using over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen or aspirin. Heat packs may be helpful, and herbal preparations containing magnesium and riboflavin have been proven to relieve pain.

If any headache pain persists, see a doctor. And, doctors warn against using over-the-counter pain relievers more than twice a week. Using medications with such frequency risks rebound headaches, for which there is no relief.

New research into migraine headaches indicates they may be caused by an electrical disorder in the brain, rather than abnormal blood vessels, as has been generally believed.

More than 28 million Americans get migraine headaches. Each year, victims lose more than 157 million workdays because of the pain, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Still, many primary-care physicians don't always recognize migraine symptoms and don't know how to treat them. That's why the National Headache Foundation urges people to keep a symptom diary.

CNN Correspondent Holly Firfer and the Associated Press contributed to this repor