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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffCluster headache has a characteristic type of pain and pattern of attacks. A diagnosis depends on your description of the attacks, including your pain, the location and severity of your headaches, and associated symptoms. The frequency and duration of your headaches also are important factors.
If you have chronic or recurrent headaches, your doctor may try to pinpoint the type and cause of your headache using certain approaches.
Examinations and tests
- Neurological examination. A neurological examination may help your doctor detect physical signs of a cluster headache. Sometimes the pupil of your eye may appear smaller, or your eyelid may droop, even between attacks.
- Imaging tests. If you have unusual or complicated headaches or an abnormal neurological exam, you may undergo other diagnostic testing to rule out other serious causes of head pain, such as a tumor or aneurysm. Two common brain-imaging tests are computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. A CT scan uses a series of computer-directed X-rays to provide a comprehensive view of your brain. An MRI doesn't use X-rays. Instead, it combines magnetism, radio waves and computer technology to produce clear images of your brain.
Headache tracking
One of the most helpful things you can do is keep a headache journal for at least two months. Each time you get a headache, jot down the following information:
- A description of the pain
- The severity of the pain
- The location of the pain
- The duration of the pain
- Any medications you're taking
- The time
- What you were doing
- What you were eating or drinking
A headache journal can offer valuable clues that may help your doctor diagnose your particular kind of headache and discover possible headache triggers.
- Bajwa ZH, et al. Patient information: Headache causes and diagnosis in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 19, 2008.
- Goetz CG. Headache. In: Goetz CG. Textbook of Clinical Neurology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/115317111-2/787037600/1488/451.html. Accessed Dec. 29, 2008.
- Leroux E, et al. Cluster headache. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. 2008;3:20.
- Headache: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/headache/detail_headache.htm?css=print. Accessed Dec. 29, 2008.
- Bajwa ZH, et al. Approach to the patient with headache syndromes other than migraine. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 19, 2008.
- Treatment of primary headache: Cluster headache. National Guideline Clearinghouse. http://www.guideline.gov/summary/summary.aspx?doc_id=6582&nbr=004142&string=clus. Accessed Jan. 2, 2009.
- Bajwa ZH, et al. Patient information: Headache treatment in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 19, 2008.
- Magis D, et al. Neurostimulation in Chronic Cluster Headache. Current Pain and Headache Reports. 2008;12:145.
- Rossi P, et al. Use of complementary and alternative medicine by patients with cluster headache: Results of a multi-centre headache clinic survey. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 2008;16:220.
- Swanson JW (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Jan. 12, 2009.
