There are two tension-type headaches, episodic (once in awhile) and chronic (over and over). Episodic - It occurs several times a month, maybe once a week, and the pain feels like a pressure or band around your head. The headache usually starts in the middle of the day and can last from one-half hour to a few days. Chronic - Occurring almost every day, the chronic tension-type headache produces a dull pain around the front, top and sides of your head, a tightening band sensation, the feeling of muscle tightening, aches and soreness. You might even have sleepless nights and be awakened before you want to.

Warning signs.
It might be a little trickier to spot a tension-type headache coming. Good and bad stress is everywhere, and a lot of it is unavoidable and part of life. You might be looking forward to making a presentation about your class project, but just before you do, a headache hits. So, if you feel muscle tension in your head, which could be a warning sign of a tension-type headache on its way, then stop and consider. Can you try a relaxation technique, or, is it time for medication?

If yours is a typical migraine headache, you experience a pounding or throbbing pain (on one or both sides of the head), light or sound may bother you or make you feel worse, and you may even throw up or feel as if you have to. You might, however, have a migraine with aura, which is when you see things fuzzier, maybe with colored or flashing lights... just not the way you usually see them. The aura might come before the headache, warning you that it's on the way. Along with the aura, a few migraine sufferers encounter muscle weakness: they lose their sense of coordination, stumble, or even have trouble talking. Your migraine can last for an hour or as long as a day or two. A few kids, however, do have headaches that go for a week. The headache might change when you become a teenager and go through puberty. Boys might have fewer migraines, and some girls (due to hormonal changes, such as menstruation) may have more frequent and longer-lasting migraines.

Warning signs.
A migraine is a tough headache, but, for some kids, it also offers an advantage: warning signs. If yours is a migraine with visual aura, then the aura might precede the headache and alert you that it's time for medication and a quiet place. Feeling irritable, dizzy or nauseous (like throwing up) are also warning signs. If you do have these warning signs and know a migraine is on its way, and even if you only have one-half hour until the end of class, ask to be excused to take your medication.