Headache or cephalalgia, whether occasional or recurrent, is one of the most common disorders among people of all ages and from all parts of the world, which, depending on the specific type, can affect men and women with different frequency.
In total, there are nearly 150 types and subtypes of headaches recognized by the International Headache Society (IHS), divided into countless groups characterized by distinctive modes of presentation and varying treatment approaches.
The two main distinctions are between primary (also called “essential” or “idiopathic”) and secondary headaches and between acute and chronic forms.
The primary forms are “pure” headaches, that is, without underlying pathological causes, and there are essentially three main ones: migraine, cluster headache, and tension headache. Secondary headaches are, on the other hand, consequent to the presence of another disease, which has headache among its more or less characteristic symptoms and which must be specifically investigated and treated.
On the basis of duration and/or recurrence, a distinction is made between acute headache (i.e., occasional or with attacks present for a few days per month) and chronic headache, which is characterized by attacks that recur for more than 10 days per month for at least 3 weeks.
