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Definition

A headache involves pain in the head that can arise from many disorders or may be a disorder in and of itself.

Description

Headaches can be categorized as primary or secondary. Primary headaches occur independently and are not the result of another medical problem. Secondary headaches are caused by illness, infection, or injury and account for less than 10 percent of all headaches.

There are many classifications of headaches, including more than 150 diagnostic headache categories identified by the International Headache Society. In general, there are three types of primary headaches, including:

• Tension headaches—muscular contraction headaches that occur periodically or daily (chronic...