CH is a rare neurological disorder, affecting approximately 0.1% of the population, which causes excruciatingly severe pain on one side of the head, usually centered around the eye.  The pain is often described as boring, burning or stabbing and is often likened to someone plunging a red hot poker into the eye.  The pain escalates very rapidly going from zero to debilitating in 5 to 15 minutes and stops as quickly as it starts.  Attacks last between 15 minutes and 3 hours and can occur from once every other day to eight times per day, usually at the same times each day. One or more of several physical reactions accompany the pain, always on the same side as the pain.  These include watery eye, runny and/or stopped up nose, red/bloodshot eye, a drooping eyelid, forehead and facial sweating and irritability.  Unlike with a migraine, a sufferer usually cannot lay down during an attack.  Instead, he or she will usually pace the floor, sit rocking back and forth, bang their head on the floor or wall, curse, scream and cry from the pain. 

The Organization for Understanding Cluster Headaches (O.U.C.H.) is a 501, c, (3), nonprofit organization, formed to assist cluster headache sufferers and their families (supporters).  O.U.C.H. was formed and is operated by cluster headache sufferers, supporters and others strictly on a volunteer basis.
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Our mission is to provide information and emotional support to cluster headache sufferers throughout the world.  We encourage, support and participate in research to develop new and improved therapies and practices for treating cluster headaches.  We conduct annual conferences, attended by members from all over the world.  We establish communication with the medical, research and pharmaceutical communities to further the understanding of sufferers' needs and to encourage improved diagnosis and treatment of cluster headache.  We try to gather, on this web site, all pertinent information which may help sufferers better understand and deal with their condition.

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DISCLAIMER: The information provided on this web site is for educational and informational purposes only.  It should not be used as a substitute for seeking professional care or for the diagnosis and treatment of any medical disorder.  O.U.C.H. makes no claims as to the scientific/clinical validity of the information on this site OR to that of the information linked to from this site.  All information taken from the internet should be discussed with a medical professional!