The Secondary Headaches · ICHD-3 · 10

Disorder of homoeostasis

Sleep, altitude, hunger, dialysis, severe hypertension, hypothyroidism, and hypoxia. Headache here usually arrives with the underlying disturbance and improves when it is corrected. Ordinary chronic hypertension, on its own, does not explain everyday headache.

What to correct

Record irregular sleep, skipped meals, swinging caffeine, and night shifts before adding a drug. In a dialysis or cardiac patient, send a new headache back to the team treating that illness. A wide battery of tests is not required for every typical primary headache. Tests follow the clinical suspicion.

These pages are written for health professionals. They do not replace a history, examination, or clinical judgment. Treatment is decided for each patient individually.