Understanding your headache
Do you often suffer from headaches? Then it can be useful to keep track of your complaints in a headache diary. This way your doctor can get a good impression of your complaints and distinguish which type of headache it is.
In the diary you fill in daily how bad the headache is and how it went that day. Even if you use medicines, the diary can be used to see whether they have the desired effect. Discuss with your doctor how long you will be completing the diary.
Examples
You can find examples of headache diaries on various websites. For example on the website of the Dutch Association for Headache Patients or Thuisarts.nl, the website of the Dutch College of General Practitioners.
Would you rather keep a diary on your smartphone or tablet? Nowadays there are also apps available that allow you to keep a headache diary. Every day you fill in how bad your headache is. It is important to do this even if you have no complaints. What you also need to keep track of is whether you have taken medication, how much medication you have taken and what strength. Also write down the medicines you bought without a prescription and how much you took. You will then be asked if you think the medicines have helped. And how daily activities, such as sports, work and hobbies,
Characteristics
It is also very important to keep track of the characteristics of the headache. Was it accompanied by nausea and vomiting? Was the headache on one side of the head? In the diaries you will receive a list of characteristics and you can put a tick next to the complaints you have.
After a few weeks, you can go back to your doctor to review the diary and find out what headaches you have. After determining whether it is a migraine, tension headache or any other type of headache, your doctor will explain which treatment can help. Further research is hardly ever necessary.
