Vascular headaches are a group of headaches that are caused by certain abnormalities in the functioning of the blood vessels or arteries in the brain or the vascular system. The term vascular headache is considered to be outdated as per the data up-gradations of the International Headache Society (IHS), yet it is sometimes used by doctors to classify these headaches in medical journals, periodicals and research papers.

The most common type of vascular headache is migraine and most other headaches in this category are related to abnormalities in the functioning of blood vessels and hyperemia.

Classifications of Vascular headache:

The different types of headaches known to be part of vascular headaches are:

Cluster headache: This type of vascular headache is also known as suicide headache and is accompanied by pain of far more sever intensity than any other type of headache. It is a unilateral pain in which the duration lasts from 15 minutes to 3 hours. The pain is located in the temple or behind the eye or may spread out in the neck or shoulder region.

Toxic headache: This type of headache is accompanied by fever from an illness such as mumps, pneumonia, tonsillitis or measles. Various environmental hazards such as chemicals, pollution, allergens etc. can also cause toxic headache.

Migraine: Thisis considered to be the most common type of vascular headache. Migraine is one of the most painful headaches known to man and is characterized by bilateral (on both sides of the head) or unilateral (on one side of the head) pain. It is further accompanied by stomach upset, nausea, dizziness and blurred vision.

Types of migraines:

The most common types of migraine are:

Classic migraine: This is also known as migraine with ‘aura’ that involves visual illusions comprising of sharp bands of light that tend to disrupt vision. Individuals suffering fro classic migraines also see a bright light around other objects and other senses such as that of smell and hearing can also be affected. In a classic migraine, these symptoms begin to take shape about half an hour before experiencing a full blasted migraine pain.

Features of classic migraines:

Classic migraines involve neurological symptoms.

Bright lights of sharp lines appear in front of the eyes that often block vision.

The patient might face temporary loss of vision about 10-30 minutes prior to a full blast attack.

Slurred speech.

The patient may experience weakness in one leg or arm.

 Common migraine: These migraines are more common than classic migraines and the patients do not experience the symptoms of aura in this case.

Features of common migraines:

Common migraines are marked by intense throbbing or pounding in the head, forehead, temples, jaw, and ear or around the eyes.

The pain begins on one side of the head and then spreads towards the side as well.