Causes and treatment of frequent headaches in the temples and occiput

1 Etiology of the disease

Headaches can be the main sign of some kind of damage in the body. Often appear as a result of the use of drugs, including oral contraception, after the abolition of glucocorticoids or the use of non-steroid drugs against inflammatory diseases.

Headache occurs as a result of:

• stretching or sudden expansion of the intracranial arteries;
• oppression or lesion of the cranial nerves;
• inflammation of the muscles in the area of ​​the skull, neck;
• Inflammation of meninges;
• increase in intracranial pressure.

2 Diagnosis of the disease

Often patients have problems with the precise positioning of the headache that they experience. Its location only in rare cases helps in establishing a diagnosis. Much depends on the cause that causes the symptom.

Severity of headache also has a low diagnostic value because of the different threshold of perception of symptoms in individual patients. Important are the symptoms that accompany it. Very often, along with pain in the nape and temples arise:

• nausea, vomiting;
• increased sensitivity to light or sound;
• dizziness.

3 Migraine manifestation of basilar type

Headache in the nape may be caused by many reasons. As a rule, it is typical for a particular unit of damage.

There is a group of diseases that are characterized by pain with localization in the nape, behind the patient's head. One of them is a migraine of basilar type. It begins with neurologic symptoms:

• complete loss of vision;
• dizziness;
• tinnitus;
• tingling in the area of ​​the hands and feet;
• numbness around the mouth;
• then after about 30 minutes there is a strong, shooting pain in the back of the head.

Tumors located in the area of ​​the posterior skull can also cause sensation of pain in the neck or neck area.

Another group of diseases that can cause severe headaches in the back of the head, degenerative changes in the cervical spine.

4 Symptoms of hypertension

Location depends on their cause. Thus, pain in the temples occurs during inflammation of the temporal artery, as well as in people suffering from migraine. If, in addition, the neck hurts, it is usually associated with hypertension. Headaches can be associated with pressure spikes. A sharp increase in blood pressure often manifests itself with pain and dizziness. In addition, if the patient experiences symptoms such as nausea and chest pain, this may portend the danger of hemorrhagic stroke of the brain.

If the head is aching, the cause of the pain may be: hypertension, stress, excessive emotional stress, vision deficiencies, brain damage, and meningitis.

Treatment of headaches depends on their etiology and should be performed under the supervision of a physician.

Arterial hypertension is a widespread disease among adult patients. However, it is very difficult to name its signs. This disease develops with a hidden character, which leads to a number of serious complications. Some patients may have subtle signs. Typical symptoms for high blood pressure are morning headaches, localized in the temples.

Inflammation of the temporal artery is one of the more frequent causes of pain in the temples. This disease is statistically more likely to affect women, usually older than 50 years. It is characterized by the onset of severe pain in the temples, which most often has a pulsating or shooting character.

In this case, the temple area is extremely painful, even the most gentle touch causes a severe headache. In addition, redness, small swelling are seen in these places, and an elongated thickening is indicated under the skin, indicating a pathological process in the temporal artery.

Inflammation of the temporal artery can lead to such consequences:

• visual impairment;
• complete loss of vision, i.e. blindness.

If the whiskey often hurts, you need to undergo laboratory tests. With inflammation of the temporal artery, it is possible to obtain increased rates of inflammation of the ESR and CRP, but accurate diagnosis is carried out using biopsy.

5 Tension headache

Tension headache is one of the types of so-called frequent pain. The location of this type is variable: most often initially occurs in the occipital part of the head and neck, and then moves to the region of the temples and forehead. Some patients describe it as an extremely unpleasant sensation of cutting pain. It should be noted, however, that some patients experience pain only in the temples.

A characteristic feature of the tension headache is the time of its appearance, namely in the overwhelming majority of cases it is associated with a stressful situation for the patient or with strong emotions, usually negative. Although a certain percentage of patients have pain in the temples and occiput responsible for degenerative changes localized in the cervical spine. Other situations in which a tension headache may occur is fatigue, lack of adequate sleep time, hunger, bad habits and weather conditions.

Frequent tension headaches are treated by eliminating the situations in which they appear, as well as the normalization of life( regular meals, sufficient sleep).A certain value is attached to all kinds of relaxation techniques. Medication is limited to a temporary intake of analgesics, and sometimes antidepressants and anxiolytics.

6 Suspected cancer

In most patients, a severe headache creates fear of its source. The patients want to know if the developing brain cancer is the cause of the pain. As a rule, if your head hurts, you can not rule out such an opportunity. The growing mass of the tumor causes increased intracranial pressure, which causes pain. Initially, the severity of symptoms and their frequency of manifestation are small. Usually, the pain is in the area of ​​the temples, forehead or occipital region, appears at night or in the morning, can remove the patient from sleep.

With the development of the disease, pain appears regardless of the time of day, and its intensity increases. Patients describe it as a violent and intolerable attack. Changing positions, coughing or laughing heightens the perception of pain. Very often there is also vomiting, usually without nausea, which brings noticeable relief. At this stage of cancer development, there is also a visual impairment. Patients see as if through a fog, visual acuity is disturbed. Brain cancer can cause a disturbance of consciousness in the form of drowsiness or coma, convulsive seizures and other symptoms associated with the localization of the tumor: damage to the cranial nerves, paralysis of the limbs.

7 Treatment measures

Prevention of frequent headaches is, first of all, maintaining a healthy lifestyle both in relation to the body and the psyche:

• sufficient sleep( sleep should not be too short and long);
• regular rest after tedious work;
• avoiding prolonged and severe stress;
• elimination of factors that increase the likelihood of head injuries;
• avoiding nicotine, large doses of alcohol, excessive use of medications( including painkillers);
• avoiding overeating;
• is the correct treatment of diseases that cause headaches, for example, hypertension, sinusitis.

Important:

• proper ventilation of premises;
• wearing hats in winter and summer;
• correction of visual defects;
• Avoiding certain foods and substances such as sodium glutamate, sweeteners and preservatives( they can also cause frequent headaches).

Lack of movement and staying for several hours in a sitting position, for example, in front of a computer screen, can lead to frequent headaches. It is necessary to avoid premises and areas with very high noise, ionizing radiation and very polluted air.

Stay healthy!