Download AppWe use one word, headache, for a whole range of very different experiences. Sorting out which one you are having matters more than it sounds, because the treatments are not the same, and something that calms one type can do nothing for another. Here is how the common ones tend to show up.
Migraine
Migraine usually lands as moderate to severe pain, often on one side of the head, and it frequently throbs or pulses. It rarely travels alone. Nausea often comes with it, along with a strong pull to escape light, sound, and sometimes smells. An attack can run anywhere from about 4 hours to a few days, and moving around usually makes it worse, which is why so many people end up lying still in a dark room. The thing people underestimate is that it is not only the pain. It is the whole package that takes your day, and often the day after too.
Tension-type headache
This is the one most people have had at some point. It tends to feel like a dull band of pressure or tightening across both sides of the head, mild to moderate, the kind you can sometimes work through. It usually skips the nausea and the light and sound sensitivity that come with migraine, and it does not tend to get worse when you move. Plenty of people get these after a long day at a screen or a stretch of poor sleep, and they usually ease with rest.
Cluster headache
Less common, but genuinely brutal. Cluster headaches hit on one side, usually around or behind the eye, and they come in bouts. Each attack usually lasts somewhere from about 15 minutes to three hours, but they can strike up to several times a day for weeks on end. There is often a giveaway on the same side as the pain, like a watering eye, a drooping eyelid, or a blocked nostril. People with cluster headaches often cannot sit still during an attack, which is a notable contrast with migraine.
The "sinus headache" that isn't
Here is the one that fools almost everyone. A lot of what people call a sinus headache is actually migraine. Migraine can cause facial pressure, a runny or stuffy nose, and watery eyes, which are exactly the things we blame on our sinuses. So if your sinus headaches keep coming back without any real infection, and the decongestants never quite fix them, it is worth asking whether migraine is the real culprit. A lot of people spend years treating the wrong thing here.
Why the label is worth getting right
These headaches respond to different treatments, so naming yours is the first real step toward relief. The biggest clue is usually the pattern, meaning when they show up, where the pain sits, how long they last, and what tags along with them. You will not always spot that pattern in the moment, especially when you are just trying to get through it. But it tends to become obvious once you have a few weeks of it written down and can see it laid out in front of you.
A clinician can help you pin the type down for certain, and that is worth doing if your headaches are frequent or getting in the way. Consider this a starting point, not a diagnosis.