Thinking about the the various types of headaches and headache sufferers it should not come as a surprise that the causes of headaches are equally diverse. There are literally hundreds of possible causes for headaches including medical problems like the fortunately rare cases of cerebral aneurysms and brain tumors. But the most commonly experienced headaches also have common causes.

In many cases simple eyestrain such as is experienced whan staring for too long at a computer screen can lead to a headache. In other cases, inflammation of the sinuses due to an allergy or head cold can be the culprit. Taking certain medicines can also produce a headache.

Although the precise cause is not known in every instance, narrowing of the blood vessels is also thought to be the cause in a range of cases. Pain sensitive nerve fibers in the head line the blood vessel walls and when the blood vessels contract the nerves send signals to the brain. As luck would have it, the brain itself cannot feel pain since it does not contain any pain sensitive nerve cells and cluster or tension-type headaches result.

But blood vessels are able to dilate as well as contract and when they do so one theory at least holds that cluster headaches and migraines can result. Current research proposes that there are also several other more important factors involved when it comes to migraines.

Tension headaches can arise from other causes like tension in the muscles of the shoulder, neck and even the jaw. People who have suffered from TMJ disorder which is a disorder caused by tension of the temporomandibular joint causing the jaw to tighten against the skull are all too familiar with this.

In more serious cases headaches can result from some underlying disease and these are usually referred to as 'secondary headaches'. The catalogue of diseases that can cause headaches is lengthy and will include everything from scarlet fever to irritable bowel syndrome.