Causes of pain in the eyes and head

1 Clinical picture

A painful condition, in which the eyes and head ache, appears suddenly. This is the most severe kind of headaches, which shows a sharp and piercing, concentrated pain around the eyes. Long seizures sometimes lead a person to depressive states. Pain in the eye area accompanying the head can manifest itself in different types of attacks:

1. Episodic attacks that occur regularly and have a duration of a few days to a year. There are times when the first pain attack may end and not appear any more.
2. Chronic kinds of attacks, in which the pain syndrome is observed for more than a year, but with very painful symptoms they last less than a month. This type of seizure is very difficult to cure, so if the headache in the eye area is often painful, you should immediately seek qualified help from doctors.

A special characteristic of such pain is its tendency to appear regularly, at one time of day. Typically, the most common are seizures that begin between the evening and the morning. According to the time indicator, this period is from midnight to three in the morning. This type of pain attacks has a brief character of manifestation, but it has a high level of soreness. If they do not give in to correct and regular treatment, the pain in the head can last from 15 minutes to an hour and a half. Each attack may have a different frequency of attacks. Sometimes it can be one attack in 2 days or up to 8 times a day.

Cyclical attacks, when the eyes and headache hurt at the same time, can be from 6 to 12 weeks, with remission sometimes lasting for 12 months. The often manifested form of attacks is characterized by prolonged attacks and remission. A large percentage of pain manifestations are observed in the spring and in the autumn season.

2 Similar types of pain

In addition to cluster pain, which is characterized by pain in the eyes and head, primary headaches can be observed, it is an individual disease, and not a consequence of another disease. Thus, chronic migraine attacks can occur, which last 1-2 minutes, but up to 15 times a day. They are treated with an anti-inflammatory drug Indomethacin.

Hemikraniya refers to the type of attack, when the head and eye are hurting with only one side. This type is more common in the female population. Attacks may not cease from a few days to a week, sometimes they can manifest as a condition similar to a migraine. The next kind of attacks with symptoms, among which there is eye pain, are neuralgic pains with the appearance of conjunctivitis. They are characterized by a burning sensation in the eyes and a headache of a piercing nature, with short attacks and a duration of up to a minute. Most often, such pain occurs in men and is difficult to treat.

In addition, there are other types of pain that spread to the eyes. These include a sinus migraine, which appears on the front of the face, presses on the eyes and forehead. Ophthalmoplegic migraine causes pain around one eye. With a classic migraine, nausea, headache, vision and speech are impaired.

3 The main symptoms of

Headache attacks, accompanied by pain in the eye area, have almost the same accompanying group of symptoms:

• painful and acute pain;
• the focus of pain is localized on the same side;
• is observed in the eyes in the eyes;
• eye pain can be inside, behind or around the eye;
• burst blood vessels, red eyes;
• the nature of eye pain can be boring or sharp.

The pain develops quickly, within 10 minutes. Without the necessary therapy, seizures can last from 15 minutes to 3 hours or more. This kind of pain provokes excitement, it is difficult for a person to calm down, he constantly walks in a circle, can not sit still, sometimes he does not have enough air. From the sick side of the eyes become red, begin to water, the eyelid descends. On the same half of the face can lay a nose, but the opposite side of the head remains perfectly healthy.

4 Causes of a headache

The attacks of cluster pain have their own causes, which are associated with the biological rhythm of a person. Part of the brain controls this process. Painful seizures may indicate that in the past( or at present) a person smoked a lot. Unfortunately, getting rid of this habit does not affect the quality and duration of the pain syndrome at all.

The appearance of cluster pain may also depend on another reason - the use of alcohol. Even a small amount of it can start the pain device for a long time. To date, the main reasons for the appearance of such attacks doctors see in violations of the blood vessels and the nervous system. There are the main reasons why the head and eyes are sore:

1. Brain anomalies that occur in the hypothalamus - a structure located in the far part of the brain. In addition to the characteristic signs, with pain syndrome, a specific part of it is activated. This structure plays an important role in the regulation of important chemical processes in the body and neural pathways.
2. The head hurts often during specific stages of sleep, seasonal light and thermal changes. This phenomenon is caused by daily disturbances, which are characterized by the fact that the increase in attacks occurs in daylight.
3. The dilatation of the blood vessels can lead to such manifestations, when pain is given to the eye due to the inflamed nerve. Close-lying nerves in the stage of inflammation can provoke a stitching, throbbing pain in one eye. The reasons for this phenomenon lie in the fact that the trigeminal nerve, which has departed from the brain behind the eye, sends impulses to the facial part.
4. To promote the appearance of pain, there can be deviations in the autonomic nervous system, which stabilizes the muscles in the blood vessels and the heart.

5 What influences the appearance of attacks

A number of factors play a big role in how and how much the head hurts, including:

• age and sex;
• condition of conditions and lifestyle;
• genetic predisposition;
• craniocereberal trauma;
• sleep disorder.

Each age category reacts differently to headaches. They are most common among the adolescent generation. The male half of humanity is more often than women suffering from cluster pain. The instability of the hormonal background does not matter.

The lifestyle of a person plays an important role. Often, headache and red eyes can indicate the abuse of alcohol or being in a constant stressful state. The danger is even frequent use of beer.

Headaches can be transmitted by inheritance. As a rule, if someone in the family has suffered from such a pathology, the reasons for its appearance in children or grandchildren are obvious. It can be not only cluster pain, but also migraine attacks.

People suffering from permanent headaches who suffered head trauma with a concussion of the brain.

Seizures with pain in the eyes can cause sleep disorders, the causes of which may be hiding in such phenomena as restless leg syndrome, insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, characterized by a stopping of breathing during sleep. As a result of the appearance of apnea, a person may encounter a severe pain syndrome, starting from midnight and ending with the afternoon after the next day.

Triggers( factors that cause headaches) can be bright light, meteorological dependence, sharp odors, drugs that dilate blood vessels, smoked foods and canned meat with an increased level of nitrates. In the remission phase, these factors do not provoke new seizures.

6 Relationship with diseases

Headaches that indicate serious health disorders have a chronic manifestation. Sometimes a frequent illness conceals a serious illness. If increased or decreased pressure was added to the main symptomatology, vomiting, intestinal distress, and the nature of the pain itself, it is worthwhile immediately contacting a specialist. Particular danger may include such manifestations as:

1. A sharp pain in the head, which increases, is accompanied by nausea and a change in mental state. This symptom can indicate a cerebral hemorrhage.
2. Age( elderly) chronic pain.
3. Headache with loss of memory, speech, consciousness, numbness of hands and feet may indicate a minor stroke.
4. Nausea and the desire for constant sleep after a traumatic brain injury can speak of a brain hemorrhage.
5. Cerebral edema can be characterized by the appearance of severe headache with cough or tension.
6. Signs of meningitis - headache, fever, gag reflex, muscular pain in the nape.
7. Acute glaucoma can be manifested by pulsating headache and eye pain, red eyes, acute reactions to light sources.
8. When the head is aching from one side in elderly people, the pulse in arteries that become hard and knotty can not be felt, this can cause a stroke or lead to blindness.
9. Eye pains that start suddenly and are characterized by persistent manifestation can lead to painful spread in the ears or neck area and cause thickening of the blood in the axillary vein of the brain.

7 Diagnosis of diseases that cause pathology

Some symptoms may cause erroneous suspicion of certain diseases, characterized by the appearance of painful headaches. Sometimes doctors recommend patients who suffer chronic headaches, keep a diary and record the frequency of seizures, describe pain, its intensity, its attendant symptoms, and changes in diet and daily routine. This can greatly facilitate the diagnosis.

Diagnosis includes medical examination, in which the doctor can check the reflexes, coordination of movements and behavior, the state of the eyes. If necessary, a CT scan or MRI of the head is performed to identify abnormal processes in the brain as possible causes of seizures. Sometimes extensive tests can be given.

8 Methods of treatment

Management of pain is reduced to therapy aimed at eliminating attacks, preventive treatment aimed at reducing relapses. Widely used for cluster pain inhalation with oxygen, injections with Tryptane, Imitrex, Zomiga. At acute attacks apply Lidocaine.

To prevent attacks, doctors prescribe an individual therapy, based on the introduction of calcium channel blockers of drugs and Kalana, corticosteroids Prednisone, drugs that relieve convulsions - Valproate sodium, Topiramate, Gabapentin.

As an extreme measure, surgery is prescribed - deep electrical stimulation of the brain, removal of the passing facial nerves.