Consider Primary Stabbing Headache

Primary Stabbing Headache

Primary stabbing headache (PSH) involves pain occurring as a single stab or a series of stabs almost always around the temple or top of the head, and/or around the eye.

The stabs last for up to a few seconds (to a minute) and recur with irregular frequency ranging from one a day to many a day. Unlike trigeminal neuralgia, for example, they are not triggerable and there are no accompanying symptoms that can often be seen with other primary headache types.

If this brief description does not match your headache type, consider Trigeminal Neuralgia and/or SUNCT/SUNA.

Treatment

Acute treatment of the individual headaches in primary stabbing headache (PSH) is not feasible due to the short duration and repetitive nature of the attacks. As with other shorter lasting primary headaches, PSH tends to respond well to a medication called indomethacin (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug).