Headache is a feeling of pain/heaviness in the head.
Types of Headache, causes and modality to help reduce it:
Most Common type of Headache:
1. Tension Headache:
Mild to Moderate pain that comes and go over time. Mainly felt pain / heaviness over frontal region. Its most common type of headache. Occurs mainly due to
- Emotional Stress
- Fasting
- Lack of sleep
- strong smell : ex.perfume, smoking, smoke
- noise
- weather change
- gas trouble/ certain food
- overuse of phone, TV,laptop
*Try avoiding situation that gives you headache. Coffee+ Tynelol might help.
2. Migraine Headache:
Throbbing headache lasting couple hours to days, and reappears few times every month. Usually associated with sensitivity to light, noise or smell. Sometime patient may experience paralysis like symptoms with migraine headache.
*Avoid triggers such as fasting, lack of sleep, noise. Tynelol extrastength, Ibuprofen / other medicine recommended by physician can help
3. Cluster Headache:
Intense peircing pain behind the eye. Associated with tear, red eye. last for 15min-2hours, for 2- 3 times a day for many days. May associated with sweating. Comes at the same time each day. Triggers: trigeminal neuralgia/smoke/ allergies/sinusitis. *Avoid / treat triggers.
Other Causes of Headache:
1. New / change in Eye number/glasses
It usually causes bitemporal (on side) headache. It is usually associated with difficulty reading small letter from distant/ headache after reading books. Mainly caused by refractive errors.
*Mostly patient need new glasses and check up with ophthalmologist.
2. Drug withdrawal:
ex. Missing a daily dose of Alcohol, Coffee, Tea. Nitrate withdrawal(medicine to treat angina).
3. Hormonal changes/ cyclic headache
Women may experience headache couple of days before starting of menstrual period every month. *Ibuprofen might help.
4. Infection in sinus/denture:
A. Frontal sinusitis following cold, or other upper respiratory diseases. *Needs antibiotic treatments under physician's direction
B.: Dental infection: associated with dental pain. *Need antibiotics and dental check up
5. Dehydration:
Drink water, and Oral re-hydration solution with electrolytic powder helps.
6. Fever:
Tynelol/ controlling fever helps.
Causes of Headache that needs immediate medical attention:
1. High blood pressure:
Patient known to have blood pressure on medicine, complain of headache in the middle of the head/vertex (pounding headache). H/o skipping medicine or + of pedal edema. This kind of headache usually is caused by high blood pressure. + very high blood pressure(>180mmhg) with nausea suggest developing encephalopathy. *Blood pressure control is needed under physician guidance.
2. Glucoma:
High fluid pressure in eye chamber can damage optic nerve. Associated with vision changes, halos, eye pain, and nausea and headache. Immediate opthalmologist / eye dr. attention needed to prevent blindness. Eye drops and medicine to decrease fluid production/ increase drainage in eye chambers helps.
3. Intracranial causes: Headache is always associate with nausea and or vomiting
A: Meningitis: infection of covering of brain. Associated with fever, neck stiffness and nausea/vomiting. *Treated with intravenous antibiotics.
B: Intracranial Bleeding (Subarrachnoid hemorrhage): These are the worst headache of one's life, associated with nausea /vomiting, later neck stiffness. Usually patient has history of high blood pressure. *Patient is usually admitted to ICU for care.
C: brain mass/ tumor: Associated with nausea, vomiting and weight loss. *Surgical removal needed depend on type of mass.
D: ventricular enlargement (hydrocephalus): Due to blockage of CSF drainage due to mass or bleeding. Associate with nausea, drowsiness and gait changes/fall. *Surgeon usually puts a EVD(type of tube to drain excessive fluid)
E: blocked vain in head, stroke
*Medical care with neurologist/ neurosurgeon needed for all intracranial issues
4. Post Lumber puncture Headache:
This occurs post spinal tap due to CSF leak. Severe Headache occurs on getting up from bed. Lying down in bed helps. *Usually complete bed rest for few days and or placing a patch in the leak needed.
5. Inflammation of temporal artery:
Headache on temporal region with thick pulsatile artery. Associated with loss of appetite, fever, pain in jaw on chewing and vision changes. It needed immediate attention as it can lead to blindness. * Need treatment with steroids.
Referances:
https://www.medicinenet.com/headache/article.htm
https://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/migraines-headaches-basics#1
https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/headache-when-to-worry-what-to-do
Types of Headache, causes and modality to help reduce it:
Most Common type of Headache:
1. Tension Headache:
Mild to Moderate pain that comes and go over time. Mainly felt pain / heaviness over frontal region. Its most common type of headache. Occurs mainly due to
- Emotional Stress
- Fasting
- Lack of sleep
- strong smell : ex.perfume, smoking, smoke
- noise
- weather change
- gas trouble/ certain food
- overuse of phone, TV,laptop
*Try avoiding situation that gives you headache. Coffee+ Tynelol might help.
2. Migraine Headache:
Throbbing headache lasting couple hours to days, and reappears few times every month. Usually associated with sensitivity to light, noise or smell. Sometime patient may experience paralysis like symptoms with migraine headache.
*Avoid triggers such as fasting, lack of sleep, noise. Tynelol extrastength, Ibuprofen / other medicine recommended by physician can help
3. Cluster Headache:
Intense peircing pain behind the eye. Associated with tear, red eye. last for 15min-2hours, for 2- 3 times a day for many days. May associated with sweating. Comes at the same time each day. Triggers: trigeminal neuralgia/smoke/ allergies/sinusitis. *Avoid / treat triggers.
Other Causes of Headache:
1. New / change in Eye number/glasses
It usually causes bitemporal (on side) headache. It is usually associated with difficulty reading small letter from distant/ headache after reading books. Mainly caused by refractive errors.
*Mostly patient need new glasses and check up with ophthalmologist.
2. Drug withdrawal:
ex. Missing a daily dose of Alcohol, Coffee, Tea. Nitrate withdrawal(medicine to treat angina).
3. Hormonal changes/ cyclic headache
Women may experience headache couple of days before starting of menstrual period every month. *Ibuprofen might help.
4. Infection in sinus/denture:
A. Frontal sinusitis following cold, or other upper respiratory diseases. *Needs antibiotic treatments under physician's direction
B.: Dental infection: associated with dental pain. *Need antibiotics and dental check up
5. Dehydration:
Drink water, and Oral re-hydration solution with electrolytic powder helps.
6. Fever:
Tynelol/ controlling fever helps.
Causes of Headache that needs immediate medical attention:
1. High blood pressure:
Patient known to have blood pressure on medicine, complain of headache in the middle of the head/vertex (pounding headache). H/o skipping medicine or + of pedal edema. This kind of headache usually is caused by high blood pressure. + very high blood pressure(>180mmhg) with nausea suggest developing encephalopathy. *Blood pressure control is needed under physician guidance.
2. Glucoma:
High fluid pressure in eye chamber can damage optic nerve. Associated with vision changes, halos, eye pain, and nausea and headache. Immediate opthalmologist / eye dr. attention needed to prevent blindness. Eye drops and medicine to decrease fluid production/ increase drainage in eye chambers helps.
3. Intracranial causes: Headache is always associate with nausea and or vomiting
A: Meningitis: infection of covering of brain. Associated with fever, neck stiffness and nausea/vomiting. *Treated with intravenous antibiotics.
B: Intracranial Bleeding (Subarrachnoid hemorrhage): These are the worst headache of one's life, associated with nausea /vomiting, later neck stiffness. Usually patient has history of high blood pressure. *Patient is usually admitted to ICU for care.
C: brain mass/ tumor: Associated with nausea, vomiting and weight loss. *Surgical removal needed depend on type of mass.
D: ventricular enlargement (hydrocephalus): Due to blockage of CSF drainage due to mass or bleeding. Associate with nausea, drowsiness and gait changes/fall. *Surgeon usually puts a EVD(type of tube to drain excessive fluid)
E: blocked vain in head, stroke
*Medical care with neurologist/ neurosurgeon needed for all intracranial issues
4. Post Lumber puncture Headache:
This occurs post spinal tap due to CSF leak. Severe Headache occurs on getting up from bed. Lying down in bed helps. *Usually complete bed rest for few days and or placing a patch in the leak needed.
5. Inflammation of temporal artery:
Headache on temporal region with thick pulsatile artery. Associated with loss of appetite, fever, pain in jaw on chewing and vision changes. It needed immediate attention as it can lead to blindness. * Need treatment with steroids.
Referances:
https://www.medicinenet.com/headache/article.htm
https://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/migraines-headaches-basics#1
https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/headache-when-to-worry-what-to-do
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