In Friday’s How-to Stuff, Cristen gave us a pretty interesting fun fact when she revealed that the most common source of head pain is ice cream — that was certainly news to me. But when I get a pain in the brain, ice cream is more likely to be a possible cure than a probable cause. So for those of us who don’t experience brain freeze, how are we to tell one headache from another? It’s important to know what kind of headache you’re treating before you start popping the pills.

Here’s my own fun fact for the day: about 90 percent of so-called sinus headaches are actually migraines, according to WebMD. While sinus infections can cause headaches, it’s pretty rare, and sinus headaches aren’t recognized as an “official” headache by the International Headache Society. I know that I was taught that if I had pain in my cheeks and at the front of my head, it was a sinus headache, but it turns out that 50 percent of migraines involve pain in that area as well, according to CBS. So don’t rush off to buy sinus headache meds — you’ll likely need to treat the infection, not the headache.

We can cross sinus headaches of our list of headache suspects, but how to tell the difference between a migraine and a tension headache? As Cristen mentioned on Friday, migraines can be caused by a variety of things, including hormones, changes in the weather and certain foods. Some people have a warning of what’s to come because they experience auras, which can include temporary blind spots, hallucinations, flashes of light and blurred vision. Others have to wait until the pain sets in; most migraines start with a dull ache on one side of the head that gets worse, though pain can also set in right behind the eyes or at the back of the head. However, migraines can also manifest as throbbing pain throughout the entire noggin. Migraines set themselves apart by being debilitating –not a nice distinguishing characteristic to have. If you feel incapacitated, nauseous and unable to deal with light and sound, then you’re probably searching for a migraine remedy. Other symptoms of a migraine include dizziness, loss of appetite, chills and fatigue.

Tension headaches, the most common form of headache, are caused by triggers such as a lack of sleep, anxiety, poor posture, eye strain, overwork, overly loud coworkers and depression. This kind of headache makes its presence known on both sides of the head, but the pain is likely the only symptom (i.e., none of the nausea or the sensitivity to light and sound that sets in with a migraine). Though they can be severe, they’re more likely to be milder compared to a migraine. These headaches can last for several days, but you can work to prevent them by knowing what causes them

The last of the Big Three of Headaches is the dreaded cluster headache. This is when you have excruciating pain behind one eye. These headaches begin suddenly, often when a person is asleep. It’s a sharp pain that can cause swelling or tears in the affected eye.

The International Headache Society recognizes about 150 types of headache, but migraines, tension headaches and cluster headaches are the three most common. Understanding what’s causing your head to hurt puts you on a quicker course to nipping that pain in the bud.

If your head isn’t in too much pain, try these articles from HowStuffWorks:
How Aspirin Works
Why is aspirin good for your heart?
Does taking an aspirin daily affect your skin?