If you’re watching this video, you may have experienced the unbearable pain of a cluster headache. Cluster headaches are a series of intensely painful headaches that can persist for weeks or even months at a time. The pain can be so severe that most people can't sit still and will even pace back and forth during an attack. Experts don't know exactly what triggers them, but a nerve in your face is involved, creating intense pain around one of your eyes.

The nerve that's affected, called the trigeminal nerve, is responsible for sensations such as heat or pain in your face. It's near your eye, and it branches up to your forehead, across your cheek, down your jaw, and above your ear on the same side. You experience a cluster headache when this nerve pathway in the base of your brain is triggered. Experts believe the signal comes from a deeper part of the brain called the hypothalamus.

Cluster headaches come on fast, reaching their full force in only five or ten minutes. The pain is almost always local to one side of your head where it stays for the full headache period. The pain is described as a burning or piercing sensation which may be throbbing or constant. You’ll feel the pain focused around or behind one eye, but it may spread to your forehead, temple, nose or cheek. Your entire scalp might become tender and you can often feel your blood pulsing.

A cluster headache can last up to three hours but may be as short as fifteen minutes. During a headache period, you may have as few as one every other day, while others get them up to eight times per day. Dubbed “alarm clock headaches,” cluster headache attacks are highly predictable, seemingly linked to your body’s circadian rhythm. They generally happen at the same time everyday, with nighttime attacks being worse than daytime ones. Attack periods range anywhere from two weeks to three months. In between these periods, people are generally headache free.

Although cluster headaches are highly predictable, they can be spontaneously triggered by external factors. When you’re in a cluster period, you’ll be far more sensitive to alcohol and nicotine. Just a bit of alcohol can trigger a severe attack. Interestingly, cluster headaches are far more common in smokers and heavy drinkers. During a cluster period, it’s highly advised that you avoid alcohol, cigarette smoke, intense exercise, strong smells, and bright light. Foods that contain nitrates like bacon and lunch meat should also be avoided.

If you start to feel a sudden pain around your eye, you might have triggered a cluster attack. Your eye may also feel swollen or begin drooping. Other symptoms of a sudden attack include eye watering, sweating, a runny or congested nose, red face, and sudden sensitivity to light.

In this event, it’s important that you find a quiet place to sit down where you won’t be bothered, if possible. Get comfortable and focus on your breathing. The goal here is to take control of your nervous system using deep and rhythmic breathing techniques. When your body’s stressed, you tend to take shorter breaths than normal. During a cluster attack, aim for slow, deep, steady breaths. Breathe in slowly through your nose as you count to five. When you breathe in, pull the air into your belly. Feel it expand as your lungs fill. Breathe out through your nose with a long, slow breath while again counting to five. Pull your belly in as you empty your lungs. Repeat this technique and try to relax more with each breath. Breathing exercises have real effects on your body that help keep you calm and control your stress. For people who suffer from cluster headaches, these techniques can be a key part of treatment.

The most effective treatments for cluster headaches are twopronged; treatments that act quickly to abort attacks, and treatments that totally prevent future attacks. These treatments relieve symptoms, shorten periods of headaches, and reduce their frequency.

One of the most effective and fastacting treatments to alleviate pain caused by a cluster headache is inhaling 100% oxygen. Breathing in oxygen through a mask at 7–10 liters per minute can reduce symptoms in as little as 15 minutes, and even better results have been achieved using up to 15 liters per minute. It’s not always practical to have an oxygen cylinder and regulator on standby, but small units are available for personal use. You should always have one in your home if you suffer from cluster headaches. Eighty percent of attacks are completely terminated with oxygen therapy. In other words, an oxygen mask will usually stop a cluster headache attack dead in its tracks.

https://thejournalofheadacheandpain.b....
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/di...