ar up, you run around like a chicken with your head cut off, and you bang your head against a wall. That’s a cluster headache.”

So what do people do to alleviate the pain of a cluster headache? “The best treatment, which people don’t do enough of, is injectable sumatriptan—

You may have heard that migraine occurs almost three times more often in women than in men. In this country, about 18 percent of women and about 6 percent of men suffer from these life-altering headaches. “There is a hormonal relationship between women and migraine,” says Stephen Silberstein, M.D., past president of the American Headache Society, professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson University and director of the Jefferson Headache Center in Philadelphia. But, as most women can tell you, men and headaches do go together. “Men do not have the same fluctuations in hormones as women,” says Dr. Silberstein, but some do have migraines. “It’s their mothers,” he says. “Also, their fathers. It seems to be genetic.”

Cluster Headaches On the other hand, cluster headaches, which occur in only one tenth of a percent of the population, are at least three times more prevalent in men than in women.

“The easiest way to describe a cluster headache,” says Dr. Silberstein, “is to say that it’s as if someone put a hot poker into your eye for 10 to 30 minutes. Your nose runs, your eyes tear up, you run around like a chicken with your head cut off, and you bang your head against a wall. That’s a cluster headache.”

So what do people do to alleviate the pain of a cluster headache? “The best treatment, which people don’t do enough of, is injectable sumatriptan—

Silberstein, M.D., past president of the American Headache Society, professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson University and director of the Jefferson Headache Center in Philadelphia. But, as most women can tell you, men and headaches do go together. “Men do not have the same fluctuations in hormones as women,” says Dr. Silberstein, but some do have migraines. “It’s their mothers,” he says. “Also, their fathers. It seems to be genetic.”

Cluster Headaches On the other hand, cluster headaches, which occur in only one tenth of a percent of the population, are at least three times more prevalent in men than in women.

“The easiest way to describe a cluster headache,” says Dr. Silberstein, “is to say that it’s as if someone put a hot poker into your eye for 10 to 30 minutes. Your nose runs, your eyes tear up, you run around like a chicken with your head cut off, and you bang your head against a wall. That’s a cluster headache.”

So what do people do to alleviate the pain of a cluster headache? “The best treatment, which people don’t do enough of, is injectable sumatriptan—

luctuations in hormones as women,” says Dr. Silberstein, but some do have migraines. “It’s their mothers,” he says. “Also, their fathers. It seems to be genetic.”

Cluster Headaches On the other hand, cluster headaches, which occur in only one tenth of a percent of the population, are at least three times more prevalent in men than in women.

“The easiest way to describe a cluster headache,” says Dr. Silberstein, “is to say that it’s as if someone put a hot poker into your eye for 10 to 30 minutes. Your nose runs, your eyes tear up, you run around like a chicken with your head cut off, and you bang your head against a wall. That’s a cluster headache.”

So what do people do to alleviate the pain of a cluster headache? “The best treatment, which people don’t do enough of, is injectable sumatriptan—

rcent of the population, are at least three times more prevalent in men than in women.

“The easiest way to describe a cluster headache,” says Dr. Silberstein, “is to say that it’s as if someone put a hot poker into your eye for 10 to 30 minutes. Your nose runs, your eyes tear up, you run around like a chicken with your head cut off, and you bang your head against a wall. That’s a cluster headache.”

So what do people do to alleviate the pain of a cluster headache? “The best treatment, which people don’t do enough of, is injectable sumatriptan—

ar up, you run around like a chicken with your head cut off, and you bang your head against a wall. That’s a cluster headache.”

So what do people do to alleviate the pain of a cluster headache? “The best treatment, which people don’t do enough of, is injectable sumatriptan—a prescription medication that turns off the pain mechanisms in the brain,” says Dr. Silberstein. However, most patients need preventive treatment to keep attacks from coming. The most commonly prescribed medications for cluster prevention are lithium, verapamil, divalproex sodium and dipyramide.” You may need to try several medications before finding one that works for you, but the right one can prevent another episode.

Tension Headaches The most common headache is the least understood. “We don’t have the foggiest idea what a tension headache is,“ says Dr. Silberstein. “We define it by what it’s not: It’s not migraine; it’s not a cluster. Everybody in the world gets these headaches. That’s why they’re not simple to figure out. But here’s an important point. If you go to a doctor complaining of a headache, it’s not a tension headache. People don’t complain about tension headaches. Have a headache that comes and goes? It’s likely a migraine. Sinus headaches are unusual. They are generally nothing more than migraines in the sinus area.”

Risky Business? “Men