Changing and conflicting information about headaches is enough to give you one. About 90 percent of headaches fit into one of three categories ... migraine, tension-type or cluster. However, within the last five years, the migraine category has swelled. Many neurologists have concluded that the majority of our head pains, even those we usually associate with menstrual cycles, allergies and sinus congestion, fall into the migraine classification.

"The more we learn about headaches, the more we find that most of them are migraines triggered by a variety of things," says Scripps Clinic neurologist Dr. Emily Rubenstein, who calls the "sinus headaches" that afflict so many San Diegans "just a myth." "Ninety percent of patients who complain of what they think is a sinus headache turn out to have a migraine and it needs to be treated as such." During certain San Diego weather conditions like dry Santa Anas or rainy days when the barometric pressure is particularly low, people often misdiagnose themselves with a sinus headache because they feel the pain around the sinuses and a decongestant gives them relief. However, weather is now known to be a common trigger for migraines, which are also felt in the sinus regions of the face and head.

"Just because you took a decongestant and it got rid of your headache, doesn't mean you had a sinus headache," says Dr. Bill Samuel, neurologist at Palomar Hospital, who notes that a true sinus headache is usually accompanied by a fever and thick green or yellow mucous. "A decongestant is also an anti-inflammatory and anti- inflammatories are used for all kinds of headaches."