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Navigate: FAQ Home Page > General Health Questions > Headache for a week
Posted on: 02/15/2005
Question
I have been having a slight headache for the past oh...week or so. I have no other symptoms of anything that may resemble an STD (discharge, ect.). I am sensitive to sound, and sometimes light, which makes the headache a little worse. My boyfriend says it could be a migraine. What do you think? How can I tone down the pain?
Answer
Migraine headaches occur fairly frequently in adolescence as do stress headaches. Both can have a long course (1 week for example) and both can have light and sound sensitivity. Migraines usually run in families so explore your family to see if anyone gets migraines. While stress headaches tend to be in the region of the temples or top/back of head, migraines tend to be frontal, often only on one side. Many people have nausea and vomiting with migraines, but any severe headaches could do this. Both are treated initially with ibuprophen at strong doses at the onset of the headache but you don't want to be doing this every day. It would be useful to see your doctor if this is a recurring problem as sometimes it is hard to determine what kind of headache you have and there are lots of different treatments possible.