There are many ways to outline the types of headaches and migraines that people experience. The most common type of migraine is episodic, affecting about half of people who get migraines. This type of headache occurs in cycles and lasts from 4 to 72 hours.
Cluster headaches, in which someone has a sudden onset of severe, throbbing pain on one side of the head, are also a common form of migraines and usually happen as the result of a virus infection or an allergic reaction (though some people have them from birth).