Most headaches last between 30 minutes and a few hours, but the full range depends entirely on the type. A tension headache can wrap up in half an hour or drag on for a week. A migraine attack typically lasts one to two days. A cluster headache strikes hard but fades within three hours. Knowing which kind you’re dealing with is the key to understanding when yours should be letting up.
Tension Headaches: 30 Minutes to 7 Days
Tension headaches are the most common type, and they have the widest duration range of any primary headache. A mild episode might build slowly and fade within 30 minutes. A more stubborn one can persist for up to a full week. Most fall somewhere in between, lasting a few hours before easing on their own or with over-the-counter pain relief.
The pain is usually a dull, pressing tightness on both sides of the head, sometimes extending into the neck and shoulders. It’s uncomfortable but rarely severe enough to stop you from going about your day. If you’re getting these headaches fewer than 15 days a month, they’re classified as episodic. Once they cross that 15-day threshold for three months running, they’re considered chronic, which typically calls for a different management approach.
Migraines: 4 Hours to 3 Days
The headache phase of a migraine lasts anywhere from 4 hours to 72 hours if untreated. But the headache itself is only one stage. A full migraine attack, including the warning signs beforehand (prodrome), any visual disturbances (aura), and the fatigue and brain fog afterward (postdrome), can stretch from just over one day to slightly more than a week in extreme cases. Most attacks, start to finish, last one to two days.
What separates a migraine from a long tension headache is the intensity and the accompanying symptoms. Migraine pain is often throbbing and one-sided, and it typically comes with nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, or both. Many people find that physical activity makes it worse. Effective treatment taken early in an attack can shorten the headache phase significantly, which is why recognizing the prodrome stage (mood changes, food cravings, neck stiffness) matters. It gives you a window to act before the pain peaks.
Chronic migraine is defined as headache occurring on 15 or more days per month for more than three months, with at least 8 of those days having migraine features. If your headaches are creeping toward that frequency, tracking them in a headache diary helps both you and your provider spot the pattern.
Cluster Headaches: 15 Minutes to 3 Hours
Cluster headaches are the shortest but most intense type. A single attack lasts 15 minutes to 3 hours when untreated, with the pain concentrated around one eye or one side of the head. The affected eye often waters or reddens, and that side of the face may sweat or feel flushed. People describe the pain as boring or burning, and it’s severe enough that sitting still feels impossible.
What makes cluster headaches unusual is the pattern. Attacks come in clusters (hence the name), striking one to several times a day for weeks or months at a stretch. These cluster periods are then followed by remission periods that can last months or even years before the cycle starts again. So while each individual headache is short, the overall bout can dominate weeks of your life.
Sinus Headaches: About a Week
Headaches caused by a sinus infection resolve when the infection does. That typically takes a week to 10 days. The pain sits behind the forehead, cheeks, or bridge of the nose and worsens when you bend forward. It usually comes with congestion, thick nasal discharge, and sometimes a low fever.
One important caveat: many headaches people assume are sinus headaches turn out to be migraines. Migraines can cause congestion and facial pressure too. If your “sinus headaches” keep coming back without clear signs of infection, they may actually be migraine attacks responding to a different treatment approach entirely.
Post-Concussion Headaches: Weeks to Months
Headaches after a concussion or head injury can persist well beyond the initial recovery. About 80% of people see their post-concussion headaches resolve within three months, but roughly 1 in 5 still have them at the three-month mark. Those whose headaches resemble migraines (throbbing, one-sided, with nausea or light sensitivity) tend to take longer to recover. Nearly 30% of people with migraine-type post-concussion headaches still have pain at three months, compared to about 12% of those with a non-migraine pattern.
Rebound Headaches From Overusing Medication
If you’re taking pain relievers for headaches more than two or three days a week, the medication itself can start causing daily or near-daily headaches. This creates a frustrating cycle: the headache returns as the medication wears off, prompting another dose, which feeds the problem.
Breaking the cycle means stopping or reducing the overused medication, and recovery isn’t instant. Most people see rebound headaches fade and stop within two months. Severe cases can take up to six months. The first week or two after cutting back are often the hardest, with headaches temporarily getting worse before they improve.
Headaches That Need Immediate Attention
A thunderclap headache reaches maximum intensity in less than one minute. It feels like the worst headache of your life, hitting full force almost instantly. This pattern can signal a brain bleed or other vascular emergency and requires immediate evaluation, typically a CT scan followed by additional testing if the scan is normal.
Duration alone isn’t always the red flag. Speed of onset matters just as much. Other warning signs that a headache needs urgent evaluation include a headache that’s fundamentally different from any you’ve had before, one that worsens over days despite treatment, headache with fever and a stiff neck, or headache following a head injury. A new headache that starts after age 50 and doesn’t match any pattern you’ve experienced also warrants a closer look.
When a Headache Becomes Daily and Doesn’t Stop
New daily persistent headache is a distinct condition where pain becomes continuous within 24 hours of onset and simply doesn’t go away. People with this condition can usually pinpoint the exact day their headache started. Unlike tension headaches or migraines that come and go, this pain is unremitting from the beginning. It can feel like a tension headache, a migraine, or something in between, but the defining feature is that it never fully breaks.
Cervicogenic headaches, which originate from problems in the neck and cervical spine, can also produce fluctuating but continuous pain. These headaches tend to worsen with certain neck positions or sustained postures and are often felt on one side, radiating from the back of the head forward. Their duration varies widely because the pain tracks with the underlying neck issue rather than following a predictable headache cycle.