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| contain delicate nerve fibers, are the muscles of the head and blood vessels found along the surface and at the base of the brain. The bones of the skull and tissues of the brain itself, however, never hurt because they lack pain-sensitive nerve fibers. |
| Pain is a complex experience consisting of a physiological response to a "painful" stimulus followed by an emotional response. It is a warning mechanism that helps to protect us and is primarily associated with injury, or the threat of injury, to bodily tissues. But headache pain is different. For most headaches, even when the pain is severe, there is no underlying diseasenot even a brain tumor. |
| The point at which a stimulus begins to become painful is the pain perception threshold; most studies have found this point to be relatively similar among disparate groups. However, the pain tolerance threshold, the point at which pain becomes unbearable, varies significantly. Childhood experiences, cultural attitudes, genetic makeup and gender are factors that contribute to the development of each individual's perception of and response to different types of pain. Although some people may be able to physiologically withstand pain better than others, cultural factors rather than heredity usually account for this ability. |
| Your head can ache in a variety of ways: |
| Severity. The pain can range from mild to excruciating, annoying to incapacitating. |
| Frequency and duration. It can strike occasionally or daily, lasting a few minutes to hours or days. |
| Related symptoms. It can be accompanied by other problems, such as nausea or vomiting. |
| Location. The pain can be localized in one spot or it can affect the entire head. |
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