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Condition

Headache

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Patient with a headache — Medicine resolves it. Ache Remedies category per Fandom, alongside Stomach Ache.

Overview

Headache is one of the entry-level diagnoses. Per Fandom's Treatment Item Table, Headache is categorised under Ache Remedies alongside Stomach Ache — both share the pain-treatment theme (Medicine vs Herbs). The patient holds their head and complains; Medicine from the cabinet is the fix. Safe to bulk-process alongside other easy conditions during quieter shifts.

Naming quirk worth knowing: per /wiki/items/medicine, the item 'Medicine' sounds catch-all but mechanically it's Headache-specific. New players often misuse it on the assumption that 'Medicine' treats anything. It doesn't — every other condition has its own specific item.

Video Guide

Diagnosis demo video coming soon.

Visual Symptoms & Cues

  • Patient holds head with hands (head-clutching animation)
  • Pain animation overlay on the patient
  • Dialogue references head pain or migraine
  • Distinct from other pain presentations (Stomach Ache uses different posture)

Easy vs Tricky Diagnoses

Pros

  • ✓ Head-clutching animation is distinctive — easy to spot
  • ✓ Dialogue confirms diagnosis quickly
  • ✓ No off-label item utility — Medicine is unambiguously the cure

Cons

  • ✗ Medicine's generic name tempts misapplication to other conditions
  • ✗ Can be mistaken for distress/anxiety presentations (which are anomaly tells, not conditions)
  • ✗ Wrong items fail without progressing the cure

At a Glance

At a Glance

Cure
Medicine
Difficulty
easy
First appears
Shift 1

How to Diagnose and Treat

Diagnose first via the head-clutching animation. Dialogue is secondary confirmation (head pain or migraine references). Once confirmed, pull Medicine from the standard treatment cabinet (free, available from shift start) and apply to the patient. The condition resolves on application.

Do not substitute. Per Fandom, wrong-treatment kills the patient and costs 1 of 3 lives. Headache is simple but the Medicine item's generic name can lead to misapplication on other conditions — confirm the head-clutching animation specifically before applying Medicine, not just 'patient is in pain.'

Diagnostic discipline reminder per /wiki/items/medicine: Medicine is Headache-specific despite the generic name. Don't reach for Medicine when the patient is clutching their stomach (that's Stomach Ache → Herbs). Don't reach for Medicine for distress dialogue alone — distress can be the Mad Patient anomaly which needs Calming Meds.

For team play: Medicine has no special sharing mechanics. Standard cabinet item with no special discipline requirements beyond the diagnosis confirmation.

AH JSON note: this condition has 'no fatal-misuse risk' flagged in the existing wrongConsequences field. Per Fandom's wider Treatment system, wrong treatment on any patient costs a life — the 'no fatal-misuse risk' note may be older guidance that predates Fandom's life-cost documentation. Treat wrong-treatment as life-costing across all conditions to be safe.

Patch History

No documented balance changes to the Headache condition or to the Medicine treatment item. Stable across all updates through 2026-06-28.

Frequently Asked Questions

What treats Headache?
Medicine — Ache Remedies category per Fandom. See /wiki/items/medicine for the item-side details including the naming-quirk warning.
Why is Medicine specific to Headache?
Despite the generic name, Medicine is mechanically Headache-specific. Per AH documentation, this is one of the most common new-player misapplication risks. Confirm head-clutching animation specifically before applying.
How do I tell Headache from Stomach Ache?
Posture. Headache shows head-clutching (hands on head). Stomach Ache shows stomach-clutching (hunched over, hands on abdomen). Both are Ache Remedies category but use different items.
Does Medicine treat anything else?
No — Headache-specific. Don't apply Medicine to other pain presentations; every other condition has its own specific item.
What happens if I use Medicine on a Stomach Ache patient?
Wrong-treatment penalty per Fandom — patient dies, costs 1 of 3 lives. Use Herbs for Stomach Ache.
When do Headache patients first appear?
Shift 1 onwards. Headache is in the default condition pool from the opening shift.
Could distress dialogue mean Headache?
Distress alone isn't a Headache cue — verify the head-clutching animation. Generic distress can also indicate the Mad Patient anomaly (which needs Calming Meds) — don't conflate the two.

Pure single-item diagnosis

Patient holds head, pain animation, head-pain dialogue. Medicine cures it. There's nothing tricky about the diagnostic or the treatment — Headache is the most templated of the easy-tier conditions.

Why this matters anyway

Easy-tier conditions get processed on autopilot once you've seen them a few times. The trap is letting that autopilot extend to every easy-tier patient, including ones that turn out to be similar-looking but require different treatments. Maintain the diagnostic-before-fetch habit even on Headache; the alternative is the day you grab Medicine for a patient who actually had Stomach Ache.

Sources: Sportskeeda items guide, in-game documentation.