Why Do You Get a Headache?

Headaches can start for any of hundreds of reasons. A headache is not a sickness or a disease itself; rather it is a symptom that indicates a possible sickness or disease somewhere in your body.

Severe headaches can be the beginning of pneumonia or infections of the ears, nose, or throat. Others, less severe, can indicate minor infections, allergies, overtiredness, mental strain, eye strain, or hunger.

All these disorders send pain messages to your brain and the surrounding areas, which are very sensitive. When they "hurt," you get a headache.

Prehistoric people bored holes through their skulls to relieve headaches, believing that they were letting evil spirits escape!