Often the head hurts what to check. Headache

Headache and nausea are inextricably linked. When unpleasant sensations often feel nauseous. Why is there pain at all? The brain cannot hurt, but vasospasm and impaired blood flow are the main causes of the problem. What to do if you have a headache and feel sick, and most importantly, what is the reason for the onset of an ailment that leads to nausea and vomiting, we will consider further.

Headaches and nausea are a sign of vascular changes or the presence of neoplasms in the brain. Doctors, when examining a patient, pay special attention to such an item as questioning the patient. It is important to find out:

  1. How often does pain occur?
  2. What time of day does the attack peak.
  3. Whether vomiting brings relief.
  4. Does the pain in the head go away after sleep?
  5. What drugs stop an attack of cephalalgia with nausea.
  6. Does the patient always feel sick with headache?
  7. Whether concomitant symptoms join.
  8. What is the nature of cephalalgia.

Headache and nausea can be associated with vascular dysfunction and atherosclerotic changes. Vascular failure leads to spasm. The main centers in the body begin to suffer. Center for thermoregulation and emetic. That is why, with cephalgia, nausea.

The headache can be associated with pinched nerve endings. The reason is osteochondrosis. Vomiting and dizziness join the cephalalgia. Pinched nerves and disruption of vascular function leads to a decrease in blood flow. The brain begins to suffer from insufficient supply of nutrients and oxygen. Brain cells die from hypoxia.

Headache is often a sign of intoxication. The body, trying to get rid of "excess", reacts with nausea, vomiting occurs. This is, in a way, cleansing the stomach from contents and releasing toxins.

By the nature of the manifestations, soreness can be:

  • oppressive;
  • stabbing;
  • pulsating;
  • stupid;
  • aching.

According to the frequency of occurrence of attacks - periodic and constant.

Headache and nausea, ending with vomiting, indicate serious problems in the body. Why there is a headache with nausea and the causes of the development of the disease, we will consider further.

Why is the headache accompanied by nausea? The reasons

Why does the head hurt and feel sick? The causes of the onset of the disease may not be associated with a pathological condition, and sometimes - cephalalgia with vomiting, a consequence of serious diseases.

There can be many reasons why you have a headache and nausea. Among the most common, doctors distinguish:

  1. Migraine.
  2. Hypertonic disease.
  3. Early pregnancy.
  4. Intracranial hypertension.
  5. Head and skull injuries.
  6. Osteochondrosis.
  7. Acute poisoning.
  8. ARVI.
  9. Meningitis.
  10. Stroke.
  11. Neoplasms and tumor processes in the brain.

Let's take a closer look at each case in which nausea appears and a headache is severe.

Migraine pain

Migraine is typical for the representatives of the weak half of humanity. The development of this disease is hereditary. If the mother suffered, she will definitely "reward" her daughter with the disease. According to medical statistics, both men and women suffer from migraines today.

Migraine attacks occur when:

  • overwork and stress;
  • prolonged stay in a stuffy room;
  • abuse of tobacco smoking;
  • change of weather phenomena.

Migraines are characterized by painful throbbing around the eye or temple. For some, the attack begins with abdominal pain. A person reacts sharply to light and loud sounds, tries to retire from strangers. Symptoms such as headache and nausea are the leading symptoms in the diagnosis. Vomiting, with this pathology, brings relief, the patient falls asleep. The duration of the attack can last from several hours to 5 days. If you do not take an anesthetic drug in time, pain is very difficult to stop.

A headache in the temples, radiating into the eye socket, of a pulsating nature, often torments adolescents. Due to the incompetence of the vessels, a spasm and an attack occurs. By the time of adulthood, the problem passes. Women report pain relief after the birth of their first child.

Migraines are treated with antispasmodics and pain relievers. With a difficult course, vascular drugs are included in therapy.

Hypertonic disease

Persistent increase in blood pressure - hypertension, develops for a number of reasons. With this pathology, a person reacts sharply to changing weather, stressful situations, overwork. The insidiousness of the disease lies in the possible development of a hypertensive crisis and the risk of stroke. Vascular pathology is treated only by a therapist, self-medication is extremely unacceptable.

Hypertension is characterized by headache and nausea, edema and increased heart rate. The leading symptom is an increase in pressure to critical levels.

To prevent an increase in blood pressure, the patient must take drugs that stabilize blood pressure daily, in the morning. Therapy includes diuretics (diuretics) and potassium-sparing drugs. It is imperative to adhere to diet therapy (salt restriction) and the absence of stress and overstrain.

The first weeks of pregnancy

It is impossible to bring down the body temperature; fever can lead to convulsive syndrome.

  • examine the body for a rash;
  • compare the temperature of the limbs and body;
  • pay attention to the color of the skin.

If the child's hands and feet are hot, the cheeks are pink, despite the high temperature, do not rush to give an antipyretic. Thermoregulation is not disturbed. The risk of seizures is minimized. Viruses die at high temperatures.

If the legs and arms are cold, the skin color is pale or gray, the child is lethargic, complains of a headache, vomiting does not stop - call an ambulance. This condition is dangerous for both an adult and a child.

The therapy includes the reception:

  1. Antiviral.
  2. Antipyretic.
  3. Immunomodulators.
  4. Vitamins.

Be sure to give the patient warm drinks. Toxins are eliminated with urine.

Meningitis

A dangerous pathology caused by meningococcus often affects the brain of children. The disease begins with severe headache attacks. A person with meningitis can be recognized by a number of symptoms:

  • forced posture: lying on one side, head thrown back, and legs pulled up to the stomach;
  • it is impossible to tilt the head to the chest, due to spasm of the neck muscles;
  • headache strongly and often;
  • vomiting does not bring relief;
  • a meningeal rash appears on the body.

Treatment is carried out only in a hospital setting. When the diagnosis is confirmed (lumbar puncture with the study of cerebrospinal fluid), antibiotics, antiemetic, anticonvulsant and vitamins are indicated.

Stroke or cerebrovascular accident

A sudden onset of a stroke is characterized by the following symptoms:

  1. Pain in the temples and nausea.
  2. Dizziness.
  3. Impaired speech.
  4. Facial distortion to the healthy side.
  5. Loss of consciousness.
  6. Clouding of consciousness.
  7. High blood pressure.

Lay the patient down, put a roller under his feet. Call an ambulance immediately. The patient is subject to compulsory hospitalization.

Neoplasms and tumor processes in the brain

Tumors and benign growths put pressure on the meninges. This is manifested by severe headaches and vomiting. Usually a person is sick after waking up. To prevent a headache, strong analgesics and antispasmodics are taken. With the progression of the tumor, visual acuity decreases, intracranial pressure increases. Diuretics help to alleviate the condition.

To eliminate this pathology, they resort to surgical intervention, removing the neoplasm. Depending on the size of the tumor, removal is carried out endoscopically or craniotomy is used.

About 70% of all inhabitants of the Earth suffer from pain in the head. An unpleasant symptom disrupts a person's quality of life. To prevent the next attack, walk more, protect yourself from overvoltage and physical exertion. Timely nutrition is one of the ingredients for successful prevention. By following these simple rules, you can reduce the intensity and frequency of pain associated with nausea.

It so happens that the head hurts and nausea at the same time, these 2 phenomena are closely interrelated.

Although you will not surprise with a headache, it is still worth studying the pathology.
We will try to consider and analyze the main aspects.

The reasons

A feeling of nausea occurs after a signal is sent to the nervous system about a malfunction in the digestive system.

You shouldn't take nausea apart from head pain.

These unpleasant sensations appear as a result of a general human disease.

The most common causes are:

  • Diseases of the nervous system;
  • Head bruises;
  • Fatigue;
  • Migraine;
  • Borreliosis;
  • Meningitis;
  • High blood pressure;

Causes include food and alcohol, anorexia. Diabetes mellitus is the cause of discomfort. This is manifested as a result of a violation of the diet and non-compliance with the recommendations of the endocrinologist.

We treat at home

To fix the problem, you need to identify the cause. Unpleasant sensations can appear as a result of pressure changes.

If the pressure has dropped, you need to drink sweet tea with lemon, if it has risen, then you need to relax - drink the drug.

If nausea and headache are caused by stress, fatigue and overwork, you need to get a good night's sleep, take a pain reliever, and get rid of external irritants.

If the pain is regular, it is always accompanied by nausea, then you need to undergo a comprehensive examination. An experienced doctor will determine the cause and prescribe the necessary treatment.

Traditional methods are effective. Decoctions based on berries, elderberry, St. John's wort are effective.

A decoction of oregano is effective, refrain from it during pregnancy and lactation. Mint tea will help relieve symptoms. Various compresses have proven themselves well.

If headache and nausea do not bother you often, but are a temporary discomfort, then you can get rid of it at home. The main thing is to rest a lot, breathe fresh air, avoid excitement and stress.

Nausea

Often accompanied by nausea, dizziness. There may be several reasons.

If a person is sick, these are obvious symptoms of a migraine. The symptoms should also include photophobia, a negative reaction to various noises.

With a traumatic brain injury, the patient will experience dizziness, nausea, headache. The general condition will be accompanied by weakness, loss of strength.

Alcohol, food poisoning, intoxication with infectious diseases - all this is accompanied by headache, nausea, dizziness.

If the patient feels dizzy, it is advisable to lie down and ventilate the room. Dangerous on your feet; dizziness may cause you to fall.

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Abdominal discomfort

If you add abdominal pain, diarrhea, then you should pay attention to your health.

This is a “wake-up call” that warns of health problems and serious illnesses.

Why headache and nausea:

  1. As a result of injury.
  2. Nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, red eyes and pain in the head are the symptoms of gastroenteritis. This viral disease causes a lot of discomfort. Its symptoms are similar to those of poisoning. To avoid gastroenteritis, you must thoroughly wash your hands and food.
  3. Inflammation of the membranes of the brain, and among the people, meningitis is an insidious disease. With meningitis, the patient is nauseous, his stomach and head ache, his temperature rises. The discomfort is increasing every hour. With these symptoms, you should see a doctor.
  4. With encephalitis, the patient has discomfort in the abdomen and head, nausea, fever.
  5. Hangover or alcohol poisoning. Symptoms go away, but nurofen or paracetamol should be taken.
  6. Poisoning caused by staphylococci, clostridium botulism, other bacteria.
  7. Pregnancy. women experience nausea accompanied by pain in the abdomen and head. By the beginning of the second trimester, all pains will disappear.
  8. Thermoneurosis or illness of impressionable people.
  9. Intracranial pressure.
  10. Hypertension.

Pain in the eyes

Meningitis is a serious condition that can cause stomach pain, nausea, and dizziness.

Sometimes the pain is accompanied by fever and disturbance of consciousness.

Meningitis is not the only cause of this problem. A common disease among women is migraine, manifested by pain in the head, eyes and nausea.

With a migraine, the temple area begins to hurt, the pain gradually passes into the eyes. The painful condition is accompanied by nausea, and restless sleep, often dark spots and circles appear in the eyes.

Increased eye pressure can be the cause of pain and nausea. It is necessary to take this disease especially seriously, because of it you can go blind. Discomfort appears first in one eye, then flows into the other - then to the entire head. Vomiting and nausea may begin.

Sharp severe spasms

If a person has nausea, but there are no other symptoms, then you need to rest.

This is the result of overwork or stress. You need to drink strong tea or coffee, lie down.

If the pain is severe - it interferes with relaxation, then taking medications such as aspirin or citramone will help. To quickly fall asleep, you can take sleeping pills with herbs. You can put a compress on your head, ventilate the room.

The doctor will prescribe a tomography and a set of tests that will find out the cause of the severe discomfort. A responsible approach to your health will help you avoid many serious diseases and the consequences after them.

For prevention, you need to breathe a lot of fresh air, sleep, eat right, try to avoid anxiety, and observe hygiene rules before eating.

Illness in a child

This is often caused by overwork from school, stress. But if the urge to vomit is added to the pain syndrome, there is a reason to be wary.

Sometimes these phenomena signal the beginning. Vomiting is the child's reaction to an increase in temperature.

Put the child to bed, give hot tea to drink. An antipyretic can be taken at high temperatures. In case of repeated cases of gag reflexes, an immediate visit to a doctor is necessary.

Nausea and cramps in the head may indicate poisoning. Exhaust fumes, overuse of junk food or food containing sodium chloride or nitrates cause unpleasant symptoms - a feeling of heat, skin redness.

Intracranial pressure is a frequent companion for a child, he has a busy study schedule, exhausting training and stress.

Reaction to drugs. If the baby is using medications to treat the disease, these symptoms will become side effects of therapy.

Vascular problems. It is necessary to show the child to a therapist, a neurologist. It is possible to assume that he has the development of vegetative-vascular dystonia.

An unsuccessful fall or blow to the head will cause injury or. If a child complains of vague pain and vomiting, examine his head for hematomas.

Medication effect

Before taking medications, you must undergo an examination. If necessary, the doctor prescribes an MRI, blood tests. Serious types of the disease require surgical intervention, the rest can be cured with medication.

For this, painkillers, Citramon, Analgin, Spazmalgon are used. To reduce vomiting, you can take activated charcoal or antiemetic Motilium, Cerucal.

If the problem is caused by pressure drops, tablets are taken to stabilize it.

In case of dizziness and malfunctions of the vestibular apparatus, take Reklanium, Cinnarizin.

These medications relieve symptoms. Diseases that are caused by bouts of nausea and soreness in the head are treated by a doctor according to the results of diagnostics.

Which doctor should i contact for headaches

Often, after physical exertion or mental strain, people feel worse. The nature of the pain can be varied. Possible squeezing, pressing, pulsating, pain in one side of the head.

Pain during exertion is often of a functional nature. They can arise for many reasons:

  • Changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure;
  • Stressful condition during;
  • Heat and stuffiness in the room;
  • Dehydration is often the cause of headache;
  • Plentiful food before exercise;
  • Overweight people often suffer from hypoxia during exercise.

The probability of illness is higher in people with specialties: a programmer, accountant, driver, who spend many hours at the computer or constantly strain the muscles of the eyes and neck.

Persistent cephalalgias that occur regularly require a mandatory visit to a doctor in order to exclude serious pathology and to prescribe the correct treatment in time.

The primary appointment should be made by a therapist. He will conduct a general examination, measure blood pressure, write out directions for tests and refer you to narrow specialists.

With discomfort in the head and neck area, it is good to have a home tonometer, with which you can track pressure surges in different life situations. The rise in blood pressure after exercise can often cause pain.

The doctor gives a referral to the otolaryngologist to exclude chronic otitis media, sinusitis or inflammation of the maxillary sinuses (sinusitis).

The doctor can give a referral to the optometrist to identify changes in the fundus and possible visual defects.

Most of the causes of discomfort in the head are associated with neurological symptoms, therefore, a neurologist deals with the treatment of diseases accompanied by pain in the head syndrome.

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Headache and nausea are symptoms that can occur with various diseases, as well as injuries.

This article will tell you what to do if these symptoms bother a person every day.

The reasons why headache can often occur along with nausea will be described.

The main diseases that provoke this ailment will also be considered. Other symptoms of these diseases will be described. And now about everything in order.

The specifics of the disease

Nausea and pain in the head appear when a signal is sent to the nerve center of the brain that the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract is disrupted.

That is, the reasons for this ailment lie in the failure of the gastrointestinal tract.

This means that when a person is nauseated and has a headache, this may indicate the presence of a disease of the gastrointestinal tract.

It should be noted that at the initial stage of the development of the disease, there are no tangible changes in the work of digestion.

Other symptoms appear later as the disease progresses. This can take several months.

That is, it often happens that nausea and headache are just accompanying symptoms of the disease.

Often in practice, symptoms such as weakness, nausea in the morning, malaise, headache, and drowsiness are all manifestations of the same gastrointestinal disease.

These symptoms should not be taken in isolation. Why is there a malfunction in the gastrointestinal tract and what to do in order to cure the patient?

Only a qualified specialist can give exact answers to these questions.

The reasons

In fact, the reasons why a patient has symptoms such as nausea and severe headache may be related not only to a violation of the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

The factors provoking this ailment are very extensive. The reasons for the manifestation of this symptomatology may lie in a disease of the nervous system.

Also, a person is often sick in the event of a head injury, cerebral edema or injury. Head injuries always cause severe pain.

What to do in case of injury? Severe head bruises can only be cured by a doctor.

Should a person suffer a head injury, should they be hospitalized immediately?

Why not self-medicate? In no case should you try to treat head injuries on your own, as there is a risk of cerebral hemorrhage.

When this happens, the victim may experience very severe headaches. If you do not provide him with medical assistance in a timely manner, a lethal outcome is possible.

With mechanical action on the head region, intracranial pressure rises very quickly.

This leads to the fact that the person constantly experiences severe pain in the head and a feeling of nausea.

Severe nausea can cause vomiting. Why does the head hurt and feel sick in the absence of ailments of the gastrointestinal tract and injuries?

If a person has a severe headache and a feeling of nausea in the morning, this may be due to psychoemotional stress.

Stress and nervousness always provoke ailments. It is not for nothing that people say that all diseases are from nerves.

Why does stress trigger pain and nausea? The causes of this ailment can indeed be associated with stress.

The fact is that when a person is in a state of psycho-emotional stress for a long time, his gastrointestinal tract malfunctions.

This is what leads to the manifestation of such symptoms. Also, a throbbing headache in the morning, accompanied by nausea, can occur in case of overwork.

What to do in this case? If the illness is the result of lack of sleep or overwork, the person should take a day off at work and get enough sleep.

When he regains strength, the pain will go away.

Diseases provoking the manifestation of symptoms

The reasons why a person is nauseous and has a bad headache can be associated with various diseases.

  1. Migraine. This ailment is dangerous in that it affects the human nervous system. The feeling of nausea with migraines occurs mainly in the morning. The headache experienced by a person is paroxysmal. Migraine sufferers often see glare before their eyes. They can hardly tolerate bright lights and loud sounds. A person may feel bad being in a noisy company. Why do migraines cause pain? The fact is that this ailment contributes to impaired blood circulation in some brain areas. Sometimes this violation can last more than a day.
  2. Brain cancer. With an oncological disease, the headache is frequent and very severe. Nausea occurs mainly in the morning. The manifestation of such symptoms is regular. If cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, the tumor in the patient's brain can be removed. The risks to his recovery, in this case, are high. As for patients who went to the hospital late, complaining of severe headache and nausea in the morning, in their case, the chances of treatment are minimal. Also, this symptomatology is manifested with a brain hematoma.
  3. Meningitis. This disease is contagious. Meningitis is characterized by inflammation of the lining of the spinal cord and brain. The head with meningitis hurts a lot. The patient develops nausea (often vomiting) and dizziness. There may also be an increase in body temperature. Some patients diagnosed with meningitis may also develop a meningococcemia clinic (meningococcal sepsis). This disease can only be treated in a medical facility. The patient's course of treatment will be prescribed by an infectious disease doctor.
  4. Borreliosis. This ailment is transmissible. It acts on the joints of a person, on his skin, on the cardiovascular and nervous systems. The main signs of borreliosis are severe headache, dizziness and feeling unwell. Also, in the morning, a person suffering from this ailment is nauseous.
  5. Increased blood pressure (hypertension). Many doctors prefer to call hypertension a "silent killer", because it proceeds, at the beginning of its appearance, without any symptoms. Patients suffering from this ailment constantly have a headache. Nausea is one of the most common symptoms of hypertension. Feeling sick, in most cases in the morning. For people who often have high blood pressure, doctors recommend reducing it in a timely manner. It is necessary to check the level of blood pressure several times a day and, if necessary, take measures to reduce it.
  6. Diabetes. With diabetes mellitus, the head, in most cases, does not hurt, and nausea rarely appears. However, this ailment can be accompanied by nausea and head discomfort if the patient does not follow the doctor's instructions. For example, he will surely face such symptoms if he deviates from the rules of a therapeutic diet.

Also, a headache can occur with food poisoning. With this ailment, a person is always sick.

This is because there is a toxin in his stomach that makes him feel unwell.

In case of food poisoning, a person should remove this toxin from the body. For this, it is recommended to take sorbents, for example, Enterosgel.

The sorbent "binds" the pathogenic bacteria that have settled in the stomach and promotes their rapid elimination from the human body.

In most cases, a person is faced with food poisoning due to poor personal hygiene and healthy eating habits.

In his stomach, severe pains may occur if he has eaten a stale or low-quality product before.

To avoid food poisoning, only quality foods of known origin should be eaten.

If the product does not inspire confidence in a person, it is recommended to refuse to purchase it.

Another common cause of nausea, weakness, headache and vomiting is overdose of certain drugs.

It is important to remember the rule: you cannot treat any ailment with the same drug for a long time, especially if we are talking about analgesics and antibiotics.

Why can't you take analgesics for a long time? The fact is that many medicines in this group include an active narcotic substance that causes addiction in a person.

In case of an overdose of analgesics, the patient has a throbbing headache accompanied by nausea.

It should be remembered that antibiotics should not be taken before meals in the morning, as this will negatively affect the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

Treatment

Headache, frequent pain and nausea bring a lot of inconvenience to a person. Faced with this ailment, I want to take therapeutic measures as soon as possible to eliminate it.

People who experience these symptoms should take medications that normalize mental processes and also stimulate blood pressure.

If the head hurts very badly and is sick, medications should be taken to alleviate the patient's condition.

These are, first of all, analgesics. Thanks to the active substances included in their composition, analgesics stop pain arising in different parts of the body, thereby restoring a person's strength.

However, one should not hope that with the help of analgesics it is possible to cure the disease that provokes the disease.

Yes, they can eliminate the pain problem. The patient may stop experiencing nausea in the morning.

However, if the head hurts often and severely, a person needs to undergo a medical examination to establish the cause of this phenomenon.

Medical treatment of a patient who has frequent headache and nausea should be supplemented by manual therapy.

One of its components is a relaxing massage. It is recommended to give the patient an acupressure.

If a severe headache has arisen as a result of a person's psychoemotional stress, the doctor will advise him on relaxation therapy.

Nausea, along with discomfort, will go away after the patient completes this course.

For example, he can do yoga, go on vacation, and if this is not possible, it is recommended to just walk in the fresh air, spend time with friends or read a book in a cozy home environment.

If a person is very nauseous and has a headache, it is possible that he drank a lot of alcohol the day before.

In this case, he should cleanse his body of toxins. Headache is another of the main symptoms of alcohol intoxication.

Treating a person suffering from a hangover is not much different from treating food poisoning.

There are several simple methods, the implementation of which will help to restore good health:

  • The head will stop hurting if you put a slice of lemon on the area where there is discomfort. The lemon must first be peeled.
  • A person should be provided with access to fresh air. If he cannot go outside, you need to ventilate the room in which he is.
  • It is important to provoke vomiting. If they are not there, it will be more difficult to remove the toxin from the stomach. To induce vomiting, drink a glass of water, bend down and touch the tip of your index finger to the tip of your tongue. If there is no gagging, you should drink another glass of water.
  • A person should be given sorbents. It can be Enterosgel or activated carbon. Such a medicine, after entering the stomach, envelops toxins and promotes their rapid export from the body.
  • If the patient starts vomiting, he needs to drink plenty of fluids. It is important to observe this rule, because together with the vomit, not only the toxin is exported from the body, but also useful trace elements. There is also a risk of dehydration.

Useful video

I get headaches often. The work is creative and stressful. Tired of already swallowing pills. I want to go to the examination. Tell us in general what they are.

Yuri, 55 years old

Yuri, frequent headaches are a reason to see a doctor and undergo a series of diagnostic examinations. A similar symptom may indicate various pathologies of structures or vessels of the brain, as well as changes in the structure of the spinal column.

What examinations need to be done for a headache? To identify the nature of the pain syndrome, appoint:

  • MRI. This is a highly sensitive research method that allows you to assess the condition of soft tissues. With its help, neoplasms in the brain, inflammatory processes of brain tissue, intracranial circulatory disorders, and the presence of cysts are detected. In addition, MRI is used to determine the changes occurring in the brain in senile dementia, and to identify lesions of the spinal cord;
  • REG (). The method is based on the action of an electric current on body tissues. With its help, the tone of blood vessels and their blood supply are assessed. With the help of REG, the degree of damage to the cerebral vessels is assessed, atherosclerosis, vascular dystonia, and hypertension are diagnosed. The advantage of this method is the safety for the health of the subject and the ability to conduct a study for preventive purposes as many times as necessary;
  • ... The study provides a complete picture of the physical condition of the brain. CT detects organ trauma, hydrocephalus, impaired brain development in children, the presence of volumetric neoplasms;
  • EEG (). With this diagnostic method, the electrical activity of the brain is recorded. A feature of the EEG is the ability to manipulate and get a general picture of the state of the organ, even if the patient is unconscious. Electroencephalography allows you to assess the state of the brain of a person in a coma, to identify signs of degenerative changes in the nerve tissues of the brain in the elderly with Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease, to diagnose epilepsy in children and adults;
  • x-ray examination of the vessels of the brain, which is carried out after the injection of a contrast agent into the vein. Using this method, the state of the brain after a traumatic brain injury is assessed, the nature and localization of the tumor is determined, and the source is identified.

The choice of a particular method for examining the brain depends on the prevailing symptoms that complement regular headaches.

Headaches (GB) - one of the most frequent complaints with which patients go to the doctor.

Headache, as you know, is different - persistent and not very, unexpected and imminent as inevitability, the head can hurt in one area, for example, in the temporal area, and it can hurt, as they say, the whole. And it can cause discomfort to varying degrees - from the annoying "background" of existence to such episodes in which existence itself seems to be impossible

Epidemiological studies show that more than 70% of the population in developed countries complain of episodic or chronic headaches. However, this figure does not reflect the true state of affairs, because many patients do not go to doctors, either self-medicating, or - in some cases - not wanting to be examined for fear of discovering a more serious pathology. Often, such patients, periodically experiencing headaches, do not visit doctors, more than half of them take over-the-counter analgesics, often abusing drugs. This leads to the development of dangerous side effects (gastrointestinal disorders, liver and kidney damage, allergies).

Headache can be the leading and sometimes the only complaint in more than 40 different diseases: neuroses, depressive conditions, hypertension, arterial hypotension, renal and endocrine pathology, diseases of the nervous system, ENT organs, eyes, etc. However, the most common forms of headache are tension headache (70%) and migraine (25%) (according to the clinic of Prof. Alexander Vein).

Headache causes

Many different classifications of headache have been proposed. In the literature, the subdivision of different variants of GB goes along four main directions.


1. Headaches in organic diseases of the brain or liquorodynamic disorders.

These include:

  • headaches associated with head trauma (acute or chronic), which can be localized or general, are difficult to treat;
  • headaches with mass formation of the brain, while the head usually hurts in the morning, the headache can be combined with nausea, vomiting;
  • headaches in inflammatory diseases (meningitis, meningoencephalitis, etc.).

2. Vascular headaches.

These include:

  • migraine is a condition in which attacks of severe throbbing headache appear in one of the halves of the head. The appearance of nausea, vomiting, light and sound phobia is also possible. Most often, young women suffer from migraines. It is also known about a hereditary predisposition to migraine.
  • headaches with arterial hypertension are not as common as it is commonly believed. However, a common symptom when blood pressure rises is severe, pressing, throbbing pain that usually affects the neck and back of the head.

3. Psychogenic headaches.

  • tension headache - the most common form of headache - occurs in response to mental stress that results from acute or chronic stress. More often occurs in people with high levels of anxiety, overt or masked depression. These are squeezing, tightening, squeezing, constant pains, as a rule, without a clear localization, of weak or moderate intensity, not aggravated by physical exertion, proceeding in the form of compression ("helmets" or "hoops" around the head).

4. Headaches caused by extra-cerebral causes

  • GB with extracerebral infectious diseases. Infections of any origin and location can be the cause of up to 40% of acute headache attacks. Any viral or bacterial infections can begin with an attack of headache, and later other symptoms of the disease, such as fever, drowsiness, lack of appetite and other manifestations of the disease, can join.
  • Drug / Chemical Action. Of the drugs, oral contraceptives, nitrates (for example, nitroglycerin), caffeine most often cause headaches (both when taking drugs and when they are canceled). Of the chemicals, alcohol, benzene, carbon monoxide, insecticides, and lead should be noted.
  • GB associated with metabolic disorders (GB with hypoxia, hypercapnia, dialysis, etc.)
  • GB for pathology of the skull, neck, eyes, ears, nose, sinuses, teeth, mouth, other structures of the face and skull (GB for glaucoma, sinusitis, etc.).
  • GB with osteochondrosis of the cervical spine - pain, as a rule, has one-sided localization in the cervico-occipital region and extends to the temporomandibular region. Headache can occur sporadically or be protracted, chronic. Often, patients with this pathology complain of limited motion in the cervical spine, stiffness in the muscles of the neck and back, and a significant decrease in the volume of voluntary movements in them. Pain can occur for no apparent reason, however, it is much more often provoked by mechanical factors. As a rule, the occurrence of such headaches is preceded by episodes of skin overexertion - sleeping in an uncomfortable position, prolonged physical activity associated with tilting or over-extending the head, unusual physical activity. However, not all
  • yes, the changes detected during X-ray examination of the cervical spine are manifested by headache or other neurological symptoms. The presence of signs of spinal osteochondrosis on radiographs after 25-30 years of age is almost mandatory, but this does not mean that the existing pain in all cases is associated with these changes.

Diagnostics

Any headache that lasts any length of time requires examination.


Methods that can help determine the cause of pain include:


X-ray computed tomography of the brain - gives the specialist a unique opportunity to see volumetric formations in the cranial cavity, zones of cerebrovascular accident (acute and chronic), anomalies in the development of the brain, traumatic injuries, signs of hydrocephalus.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and spine has even more advanced capabilities than computed tomography. It allows you to see the structures of not only the brain, but also the spinal cord, significantly helping in the diagnosis of tumors, small and large foci after a stroke, traumatic lesions, sinusitis, intervertebral hernias, and a whole range of diseases that can cause headaches.

Magnetic resonance angiography - a new unique technique that allows, without the introduction of contrast agents, to assess the state of intracraninal (intracerebral), extracraninal (neck vessels) arteries and veins, to identify their stenotic changes, aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations.

Blood pressure monitoring - a method that allows you to identify latent arterial hypertension, to establish the peculiarities of blood pressure fluctuations during the day and to adjust the therapy to lower blood pressure.

Blood tests - allow you to identify signs of infection, inflammation.

Ophthalmologist examination - is indicated in almost all cases of headache, since possible changes in the fundus, which only an ophthalmologist can see with the help of special equipment, also help to establish the true cause of the headache. In addition, the optometrist will assess the state of refraction, visual acuity, visual field.

Sometimes you may also need to consult an otolaryngologist, dentist for a special examination.


In case of headache which you cannot cope with, we recommend that you contact the specialists. Only a competent examination by a qualified neurologist will help clarify the causes of headache, make a diagnosis, and provide adequate treatment.

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