Toothache vs. a Toothache

[Ramya]

I find the following in your site:

"... a toothache..." Is it possible to use 'a' before toothache?
"... suffering from a terrible toothache..."

This sounds and seems to be right. But still I feel the first one to be wrong. Can you please explain this?

[Mister Micawber]

.
Toothache can be considered countable or uncountable, but in my neck of the woods, the countable form is the standard: I have a terrible toothache.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber