Headache - symptoms of many causes

Headaches may be due to increased intracranial pressure (brain tumors, meningitis, cerebrovascular spasms) or local causes (sinusitis, molars, eyes, etc.).

Headache or headache is a symptom of many different causes. Headaches may be due to increased intracranial pressure (brain tumors, meningitis, cerebrovascular spasms) or local causes (sinusitis, molars, eyes, etc.).

In addition, there are several causes of infection or poisoning. Today, life is always busy, stressful work, family conflict . also causes headaches, stress.

Symptom

Signs of headache, there are many levels of mild to severe headaches. Unilateral pain or head pain or pain in localized areas such as nape area (occipital region, frontal area or temporal area, pain right above the eyes, ears, pain in the upper region of the neck .) . For example, tension headaches will also include signs of difficulty sleeping, increased headaches when there is light on the face or a noisy sound. If headaches due to meningitis, acute blood clots in the brain, it may be accompanied by abnormalities in body temperature, pulse . To know specifically the cause of the headache should be examined directly by the doctor, from there There will be appropriate treatment. In addition, it is necessary to have a reasonable working, resting and relaxing regime, avoiding noisy places because it can make headaches worse.

Stress is a common cause of headaches.

Sometimes headache has a warning sign. About 40 - 60% of patients have pre-emptive symptoms , which can be drowsiness or yawning, fatigue, or vice versa. salty. Often, patients and their relatives also notice these symptoms and anticipate the pain will occur.

About 20% of patients have transient episodes, to start the headache afterwards, sometimes these symptoms occur while the patient is having a headache. Common is blinding, lightheadedness, fireflies, black spots covering the eyes (called blind spots). Some older patients may not have a headache but only have the same symptoms.

Common types of headaches

Usually headaches are divided into two categories: primary headache is painful but not accompanied by important symptoms of a related disease; secondary headache: headache is a symptom of a certain disease, pain caused by a specific disease.

Primary headache

1. Stress headaches: the most common type, about 90% of adults have this type of headache, especially in women.
2. Migraine migraine: the second most common after stress headaches. About 28 million Americans (about 12% of the population) have experienced headaches like this, in both adults and children. Before puberty, the proportion of men and women with this headache is the same, but over this period the advantage is more on women (6% for men and 18% for women). Causal migraines are often related to the relaxation of blood vessels in the skull and intermediate chemicals secreted from the nerve fibers that surround it. It was found that when pain occurs, the temporal artery usually widens (the temporal artery is a branch of the artery outside the skull, just below the temporal skin). When this artery expands, it tightens the nearby nerve fibers, the nerve fibers when stressed, secrete chemicals that can cause pain, inflammation, and make the blood vessels expand and aggravate. More severe pain.
3. This migraine is often not diagnosed, or misdiagnosed with tension headaches, sinus headaches, so many people with this type of headache should not be treated appropriately.
4. Intermittent headache (histamine headache, Horton headache): the most common primary headache, accounting for about 0.1% of the population. Patients are predominantly male (accounting for 85%). The average age is ill 28-30 years, regardless of whether the disease can appear from a young age.

Secondary headache

This includes sinusitis, high blood pressure that also causes secondary headaches. There are many causes, from severe: brain tumors, cranial trauma, meningitis, subarachnoid hemorrhage, to a milder (and more common) level: headache due to stop drinking coffee, headache due to high blood pressure, sinusitis, sinusitis, ear infections, gingivitis.

There are also causes: reduced thyroid activity because the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone as usual; Regular poisoning of carbon monoxide (CO). Parkinson disease; drugs such as indomethacin, estrogen, progestin, calcium channel blockers (often used to treat hypertension), drugs that inhibit selective serotonin reuptake (antidepressants). Abuse of specific painkillers over-the-counter pain relievers can create 'drug resistance', loss of efficacy, and headaches cannot be controlled anymore. Myocardial anemia (often due to coronary artery disease): Besides myocardial anemia, angina can also cause headaches. The causes of secondary headaches also include brain cancer, including primary tumors in the brain and tumor metastases from the breast, from the lungs; Subdural hematoma (sclera is a membrane that covers the brain) after flowing from ruptured brain veins.

Malignant hypertension also causes headaches (mild or moderate hypertension attacks usually do not cause headaches). The temporal arteritis usually occurs in elderly patients, possibly accompanied by fatigue, body aches, anemia. If left untreated, temporal arteritis can cause blindness or stroke. Glaucoma headache (abnormal high pressure in the eye) .

When there are abnormal polyps, need to see a doctor to find the cause, should not only take a few pills to relieve pain.