Principles & Practice of Pain Medicine > Part IV. Pain by Anatomic Location > A. Head and Neck > Chapter 22. Chronic Daily Headache Egilius L.H. Spierings

Chronic Daily Headache: Introduction

"Chronic daily headache relates to the daily or almost-daily occurrence of headache. However, not all daily or almost-daily headaches fall under this denominator, as is the case with the daily or almost-daily headaches of (chronic) cluster headache and paroxysmal hemicrania, as well as those of hypnic headache or nocturnal migraine. These conditions can be referred to as paroxysmal daily headaches in which the headaches occur in well-defined attack patterns. In cluster headache, the attack pattern is that of headaches occurring once or twice a day and lasting 1 to 2 hours, whereas in paroxysmal hemicrania, it is that of headaches occurring 5 to 15 times per day and lasting 10 to 30 minutes. In hypnic headache or nocturnal migraine, the headaches occur once a day, waking the patient from sleep at night, usually between 4 and 6 am, and lasting for a variable amount of time, also depending on the efficacy of treatment...."