I have an ice pick in my left eye again.
I feel like a bad person
Do you need to be spanked?
People who experience
ice pick headaches say they feel a sharp jabbing sensation, often around their eye or in the temple area. Intensity varies, although most sufferers indicate that the pain is disabling while the headache is occurring. In two-thirds of sufferers, the headaches lasts 1 second or less, but for others, the pain can last 10 seconds or longer.
R.K. Lansche, a leading 1960s headache researcher, first defined the phenomenon in 1964. Since that time, the condition has been known by many different names. Its cause remains a mystery, and its treatments vary. The International Headache Society classifies these headaches as "primary stabbing headaches" because there is no identifiable cause underlying the pain.
For a diagnosis of primary stabbing headaches or ice pick headaches, the International Headache Society outlines the following criteria: The pain is confined to the head, the pain is stabbing or jarring and the headaches recur erratically from once a day to the extreme of 50 times per day.
Thankfully, ice pick headaches are not that common. Research suggests that only 2% of the population ever experience ice pick headaches and usually not until middle age. This type of headache rarely affects children and teenagers; one study found a mean onset age to be 47 years. According to textbook The Headaches, a comprehensive medical analysis of headache types and treatments, more women suffer from ice pick headaches than men.