headache

Every person knows a headache in person, someone experiences it not so often, but someone regularly. Most people just take a pill. Well, and thoughts of visiting a doctor, as a rule, will not arise. But pain pills are far from vitamins, they are serious drugs with side effects.
Therefore, do not be lazy, give yourself a chance to stay healthy for many years - visit a doctor.

Who should I contact?
This is a neurologist. He will be able to establish an accurate diagnosis, teach how to prevent and correctly stop seizures.

Above all, keep calm and rule out the worst.
If you often have a headache, start keeping a diary: how often, where it hurts, how long, what you ate, took, helped, which was the phase of the menstrual cycle. You will need this information to diagnose the type of pain and find possible triggers.

There are several types of headaches:
*** Sinus - acute severe pain in the area of ​​the eyebrows, nose and cheekbones. Often associated with colds, flu, or seasonal allergies.
*** Cluster - is rare, it is an attack of very severe pain or burning sensation in the eye area, which lasts from 30 minutes to 3 hours.
*** Headache from stress and tension - it is associated with strong psychological stress, poor posture, the habit of clenching the jaw and grinding teeth, bright light. long sitting at the computer.
*** Migraine - severe throbbing pain - usually in one side of the head. Often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and noise.
*** TMJ syndrome (functional pathology of the temporomandibular joint). Pain or discomfort in the jaw, around the ear, in the neck and shoulders when you eat.
*** Vascular headache (stretching of the veins inside the skull, due to their excessive filling with blood).
*** Abuse headache (it develops in people who often take pain medications for 15 to 30 days a month).
*** Cervicogenic pain (this type of pain is associated with damage to the cervical spine).

Alarms for headache:

lightning-fast sudden pain that peaks in 5 minutes

clouding of consciousness

sudden onset of a new neurological or cognitive impairment

onset of pain after 50 years *

pain, makes you wake up from sleep *

sudden pain in patients with HIV / AIDS *

carbon monoxide poisoning

red eye - symptoms of glaucoma (increased intraocular pressure)

possible symptoms of giant cell arteritis (inflammation of the arteries)

orthostatic pain (lying and standing up abruptly)

head injury

bouts of vomiting

the pain progresses and lasts for weeks

How to distinguish between types of pain, its causes and what to do about them.

Migraine
If the headache lasts more than 15 days a month, accompanied by nausea and photophobia, then in 98% of cases it is a migraine. Migraine is distinguished by the duration of attacks (from four hours to three days) and increased pain from everyday activities. In the case of a migraine, either the whole head or some part of it hurts.

What a pain it is:
1. Pulsating, hard to tolerate
2. Unilateral, captures the forehead, temple, eye socket.
3. Very intense
4. A person completely loses his ability to work.
5. With physical exertion, it increases
6. It is accompanied by nausea, vomiting.
7. There may be photophobia and increased sensitivity to odors.

Pain due to exertion
The tension headache is felt from all directions. It is not very severe, compared to migraines or cluster pain, you can work with it (although you feel bad at the same time), and not feel other symptoms. This is the most common type of headache.
It is dull, does not pulsate and does not grow, unlike migraines, often bilateral, and at the same time a tense neck. The forehead and back of the head hurt. It is often accompanied by emotional stress or depression that the patient is unaware of.

Cervicogenic pain (neck pain)
This type of pain is associated with damage to the cervical spine. The symptoms are very similar to migraines, so it is difficult to diagnose. ...
The neck is the most mobile segment of the spine. The muscles around the neck are weaker and therefore the area is very vulnerable. ...
Vertebral arteries are located in the openings of the transverse processes, and nerves run close to them. Also, on both sides of the vertebrae, nerve roots depart, which, with certain injuries, can also be compressed.
What can be the cause of a cervicogenic headache?
Injuries, degenerative diseases, immune diseases (arthritis), infectious diseases.
Often the cause of pain can be whiplash injuries, due, for example, to an accident. They may not appear immediately, but after a while, and then the person will not at all connect the pain and the trauma that happened six months ago. But statistics show that 6 months after whiplash injuries, 60% of victims develop pain.

Cluster headache
Cluster headache occurs in one place - on the right, for example, near the eye. He is strong, accompanied by great excitement and anxiety, and from the same side where it hurts, watery eyes, swelling in the nose, and may be sweating.
This type of headache is inherent primarily in men 20-50 years old, alcohol abusers, smokers. Cluster headaches are not very long-lasting, but they are cyclical - inherent in a particular time of day or season.

Abuse headache
Abuse headache is mega-relevant in our society, especially with the development of the pharmaceutical industry. It is also called bounce. It develops in people who often take pain relievers for 15 to 30 days a month.
Abuse headache develops three months after the start of daily pain relievers. And it occurs when you miss a medication or refuse to take it ..
This type of pain is usually bilateral, monotonous, of moderate intensity, practically does not affect the ability to work and is not associated with physical exertion.

Vascular headache
This type of pain can be associated with either venous or arterial overflow in the vessels of the brain. ...
Reason: stretching of the veins inside the skull, as a result of their excessive filling with blood. This is caused by impaired venous outflow through the jugular veins and leads to excess pressure in the venous sinuses.
Often this type of pain appears in the morning and is associated with a prolonged horizontal position, in which the outflow of venous blood worsens. Venous headaches (VHD) are more common on weekends when people sleep for a long time.
IGB can increase when bending down and staying in this position for a long time.

Diagnostics
When contacting the clinic with complaints of headache, the patient goes through several stages of examination. To begin with, the doctor, during the survey, clarifies the nature and duration of pain sensations, their localization, accompanying and provoking factors.
Electroencephalography (EEG)
X-ray
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Computed tomography (CT)
Electromyography (EMG)
Ultrasound diagnostics (ultrasound)
Laboratory research methods are mainly used to detect infections and inflammations in a patient, autoimmune processes and disorders of cholesterol metabolism.

TREATMENT
The need for treatment in one way or another is determined by the doctor. Most often it is a neurologist, however, different causes of headaches can lead you to the office and to a specialist of another profile, who will also prescribe the necessary procedures. Doctors strongly discourage hoping that "it will pass by itself." The development of pain syndrome can lead to aggravation of problems.

The main treatments for headaches are:
drug treatment
manual therapy
massage
acupuncture
osteopathy
physiotherapy
physiotherapy

Well, if you want to get rid of a headache seriously and for a long time - welcome to our appointment! Be healthy!