Describing the pain
Describing the pain
I personally try to explain CHs as a head pain as opposed to a head ache and whilst I often see it quoted that others describe the pain as 3 or 4 times more painful than labour... I have never found this to be a helpful description.... Whilst I have 4 children I had each one by Caesarian section, so I never experienced labour , but of cause I understand the pain that women describe in labour, but at the end of it, there is something wonderful..... Which we don't get with CH.
my way of trying to describe the pain to colleagues, friends and family is, try to imagine getting brain freeze that goes on for longer than a few mins and at the very same time touching a tooth filling with a piece of silver paper and that pain staying in your head and at the same time your eye ball is being slowly squashed..... Well that's how it is, several times a day, every day for up to an hour each time!
And because they are all head related pain..... I think 'some' people are getting it!!! ... (Maybe)
anyway, just wonderred how others describe it to friends, family and colleagues?
Login to add comments
my feels as if its in a fist being squeezed, the head pain is a deep penetrating pain [often get asked at hosp if its pulsating but it never does] sometime pain in roots of teeth feel like i want to tear them out with pliers, other times pain in jaw or cheek.
alway sleepwith pillow bentover in half to push against my head to help numb it as i sleep, or with fist under pillow to press against my head.[a sort of homemade nerve block]
I totally agree about the description of the headaches. I've always described it as someone stabbing me with a knife short and sharply, I got diagnoised with episodic CH about 3 yrs ago after being rushed to hospital with suspected bleeding on the brain! Very scary few hours whole waiting got ct scans and lumbar punctures, these headaches are affecting my life hugely however I'm learning more n more to avoid the triggers and preventions x
Moo-cow
For me it's always my eyeball feeling squeezed, or swollen.
I tell people to imagine what it feels like when they try and pop a blister by squeezing it, but it's not ready to burst, so eventually it hurts too much and so you stop.Well imagine trying to squeeze your eyeball until it's ready to burst, but you can't stop, it just keeps squeezing and squeezing,
Or my other way of descibing just the level of pain, is to tell people the next time they have a real bad toothache, get an ice cube and crunch it on the tooth that hurts, making sure to gind the shards of ice into the nerve, this will dull the nerve though,so then get a nice hot cup of tea and make sure to swill it round your mouth holding it on the bad tooth. Then get an ice cube........., well you get the idea, and carry on for a couple of hours non stop, every day,
Oh what a lovely world we live in!
I explain it to people by saying it's the most painful thing known to medical science. Scientist say the closest comparrison on pain level is trying to imagine the pain of amputation with no anaesthetic. Now park that pain in your head and imagine that the amputation is of your eyeball however, instead of it being cut out, it's being crushed out. Now give yourself unlimited eyeballs and do it 5 times a day, forever.
So far, I have a 100% record of getting through tough days!
I can relate to all these descriptions.....I'm just so tired of the daily amputations, extremely painful childbirth, toothache torture, eyeball squeezing and squishing....This sounds too much like a script for a very gory horror move. If anyone writes it some loyalties definately needs to go to the OUCH website.....
Perhaps the film should be named 'A Day in the Life......'
Just when you thought it was safe to sleep...
Cluster Headache 4; Return To Hell.
The Musical.
That's funny - The Musical.
I think brain freeze x 10 in the eye that doesn't let up is a good way to describe it
Dorothy (Trustee)
Lol I love it..........the musical ha ha!!
Bearing in mind I have HC, I would describe the pain as a fireball in my head on top of the red hot poker through my eye and out through the back of my head!! When it swaps sides and goes to the right (usual attack side is left) you can add red hot rocks rolling around inside my head which can make me jump sometimes!
I avoid '10 times worse than Ice cream headaches'
or '1000 times worse than being poked in the eye with your favourite Teddy'.
The description should reflect the hell we go through.
Sleepless nights, unbearable pain multiple times a day,
every day, weeks, months...
Extreme pain and sleep deprivation are used for torture
in some countries. And Justin Beiber.
Hello
I have got my 8th appointment through for the end of October, I was told I'm suffering with episodic clusters when rushed into hospital 3 yrs ago with suspected bleeding on the brain,
I've always doubted I'm a suffer if clusters since watching some YouTube videos of people suffering with them, I'm no where near the pain these people are suffering with, I don't think need the oxygen that the consultant says he will put me on as like I said before I do not suffer as bad as people in the videos.
Don't get me wrong I do suffer, but when asked by consultant on the pain scale of 1-10 I'm averaging 7-8 , only 3 times in one episode have I needed to bang my head on the wall. My description of my cluster headaches that I usually get are like continuous brain freeze , this is how I explain to my friends the pain I am in
However the last two weeks I've been having pain in the same place and the weeping eye and droopy eyelid.... But the pain is only about on the 4-5 scale, I do have to still press on my head or try pushing my eye inward. But still go on with my daily routine it just now n again have to go off on my own, Was just wondering if cluster sufferers experience not so painful headaches x thank you x manda sorry about the essay
Sent from my iPhone
Moo-cow