They often occur around the same time and may even happen multiple times per nightĪmerican Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) AASM sets standards and promotes excellence in sleep medicine health care, education, and research. However, it’s more common for a hypnic headache to affect both sides.Īnother distinguishing feature of hypnic headaches is that they usually occur in the middle of the night, or around two to three hours after falling asleep. National Library of Medicine, Biotech Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information advances science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information. Hypnic headaches can be unilateral or bilateral, which means they can affect one or both sides The primary symptom of a hypnic headache is dull or throbbing head pain that occurs during sleep, multiple times per month, usually around the same time of night. Waking up in the middle of the night due to headache, multiple times a month.Dull or throbbing pain affecting one or both sides of the head.

Symptoms of a hypnic headache can include What Are the Symptoms of a Hypnic Headache? The onset of hypnic headache typically occurs after age 50 years, though a few cases younger than age 40 years have been reported.

People who experience hypnic headaches typically have them several times a week. View Source, which may cause difficulty falling asleep but can occur at any time of day. This timing distinguishes them from other types of headaches, such as migraines or cluster headaches Hypnic headaches only occur while a person is sleeping The pain can keep people up for at least 15 minutes, if not longer. Hypnic headaches are a rare type of headache that occurs during sleep and wakes the person up, which is why they’ve earned the nickname “alarm-clock headaches“ If you are someone who has been diagnosed with this specific type of headache, you know that they can be extremely frustrating.

Hypnic headaches are considered rare, affecting fewer than 1% of people If you have ever been woken up by a headache in the middle of the night, you may have experienced what’s known as a hypnic headache. Read our full Advertising Disclosure for more information.

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