The overwhelming majority of headache complaints are diagnosed as vascular or tension. The National Headache Foundation estimates over 10 million Americans are troubled by recurrent migraines, a form of vascular headache. And tension headache likely affects 3-4 times as many individuals. Both forms of headache are more prevalent in females. They do not appear to be related to social class, occupation, etc., and thus can occur in virtually anyone at anytime.
Attacks are intermittent, lasting from a few hours to as long as a day or more.
Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue, and sensitivity to sound and light frequently accompany the headache. Biochemical imbalances, fluctuations in cranial blood flow, and certain neurological events are thought to underlie migraine. Cluster headache is another type of vascular headache, so named because attacks come in bouts of frequent, but short duration headaches, then go away for extended periods of time. Cluster headache is rare and is the only type to be more common in males than females. Tension, or muscle contraction, headache is believed to result from excessive contraction of muscles in the shoulders, neck, and head.