Empower the Strategies for a Pain-Free Life
There is hardly a person who has not suffered from a headache. Depending on the severity, it can restrict a person a lot. A person with a headache is less likely to partake in societal functions and perform his duties correctly.
The problem is that headaches can be of different types, and the underlying condition can vary too. If it is not detected, the treatment will be incomplete.
In this blog, we have listed these headache-inducing factors to help you to understand headaches better.
Headaches are distributed into two branches, primary and secondary. Secondary headaches are caused by some underlying medical conditions, in contrast to the primary ones.
Under primary headaches, we have tension (or tension-type) headaches, migraine, and cluster headaches.
Tension headacheÂ
A dull ache associated with tightness in the forehead, neck, and back of the head is known as a tension headache. It is common in adolescents and is caused by stress and lack of sleep. But problems like poor posture, hunger, iron deficiency, eye strain, dental problems, and alcohol and caffeine addiction can also contribute.
If you have this headache for less than 15 days in a month, it is an episodic tension headache; otherwise, a chronic tension headache. It affects both sides of the head, and it seems like someone is squeezing your entire head.
You may have these problems:Â
- The trouble with sleeping (thus feeling tired all the time)
- Trouble with focusing
- Irritability
- May exhibit sensitivity to light
Migraine headaches :
If you have a severe pulsating or throbbing headache, particularly on one side, well, you have a migraine. This headache is accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity (to light and sound). Patients may also suffer from nausea, mood swings, chronic fatigue, and bloating. Migraine can be triggered by different factors, like bright lights and changes in the weather, but we don’t know the root causes.
Cluster headaches :
Cluster headaches are characterized by severe burning and piercing pain behind an eye. Other symptoms may include reddening of the eye, constriction of pupils, and tearing up. The nose can get stuffed up by the mucus too.
The intensity of the pain reaches its max within 5-10 minutes, and it usually affects one facial side. The duration of this headache can vary from 30 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Cluster headaches are triggered by smoke, alcohol, strong smells, alteration in altitude, and excessively bright light.
New Daily Persistent Headaches (NDPH)
Doctors have not yet figured out the root cause of this headache, but this one starts suddenly and may continue for a long time. It may start after a patient recovers from a disease or an infection. The symptoms coincide with other conditions, like sinus and migraine.
For secondary headaches, we have these issues on the list:
Sinus headaches:
Infection and inflammation of the sinus can induce severe headaches in patients. It also exhibits problems like a stuffed and runny nose, pain in the cheekbones, fever (or feverish tendencies), and facial swelling.
Infection-induced headaches:
If you have suffered from encephalitis or meningitis, you can suffer from this headache. In encephalitis, you may suffer from severe fever, seizures, changes in behavior, confusion, and disorientation. In meningitis, the brain membranes are affected, inducing severe pain in the brain.
Stroke:
Diseases like stroke may show symptoms like headaches during the early stages. It is mainly caused by a lack of blood in the brain and the death of brain cells. If it is ischemic, patients may have blood clots in the brain. In a hemorrhagic stroke, patients will suffer from internal bleeding in the head.
Traumatic injury to the head
When we receive a blow or trauma to the head, we experience a headache that usually subsides after a few days. But, in some cases, it may stay around, and cause long-term problems, even after subsiding. The pain will occur daily, can be moderately intense, and can show the same symptoms as a migraine (severe pain on one side of facial features).
Brain tumorÂ
If you have persistent headaches (severe in the morning, then gradually disintegrates or lessens in the later half), and also nausea, it may indicate a brain tumor. Depending on where it is situated, a brain tumor may present different symptoms. But headache is usually common now, with speech difficulties (cerebral tumor) or unsteady gait (posterior fossa).
Aside from these, we should also discuss medication-overuse headaches. Doctors may prescribe a pain-relief medicine over-usage over a limited time, but people often continue using it for a long time.
So when they stop taking the medication, they may experience the pain more severely, leading them to renew their medicines. At last, the medication might lose efficacy, thus giving birth to a disorder. Problems like hypertension can also induce headaches (although more study is needed on this topic).
If the trigeminal nerve is affected, it can produce severe pain in the head, and the face, a condition known as trigeminal neuralgia.
People with alcohol addiction suffer from handover headaches which can trigger migraine, clusters, and tension headaches. Hangover headaches often occur on both sides of the forehead, and it is generally of pulsating and throbbing nature. It is advised not to do any physical activity in this condition.
Like alcohol, caffeine can also cause a headache as a withdrawal symptom. However, this is not a permanent condition and can be treated within a short time.
While diagnosing, medical practitioners ask patients to keep headache diaries, noting the triggers. This can help doctors diagnose the right cause, and come up with a better treatment plan. They may advise keeping these triggers away and maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine.
Blood analysis tests, and tests to check iron level deficiency, can tell us a lot. The ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) can check for inflammation, and imaging tests can also show what’s wrong. A spinal tap can tell us about the infection category (bacterial or fungal). In rare cases, digital subtraction angiography may be required.
ReferencesÂ
https://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/tension-headaches
https://www.docsopinion.com/causes-headache/Â Â
https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/brain-and-nerves/headache/diagnosis.htmlÂ
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9639-headaches
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/migraine-headache/symptoms-causes/syc-20360201
https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/headache/basics/causes/sym-20050800Â
