Headache or cerebralgia

Headache is one of the most frequent complaints at the appointment with a therapist or neurologist, and it affects both men and women, regardless of age.

Headache attack can significantly affect your plans, – instead of going to the theatre, you are forced to lie on a couch, putting a wet towel to your forehead. Such word as “migraine” is in the vocabulary of almost every person, because this is what we usually call severe and prolonged pain in one half of the head. As statistics show, very often this is not a migraine, but a completely different type of headache. But an exact diagnosis can only be formulated by a neurologist, having performed all the necessary methods of examination and diagnosis.

Everyone seeks respite from headaches in different ways: someone uses Aspirin or Citramonum, someone immediately tries to lie down and someone takes the pill to lower blood pressure. It is advisable not to abuse the advices of friends and acquaintances, because what helps others can not help you. Remember that there is a large amount of headache reasons, and your recovery will depend on the correct diagnosis.

The various epithets are used to describe the headache: pulsating, monotonous, pressing, sharp, dull, shooting, excruciating, drilling, infernal, etc. There are more than 20 words, which people use to describe the pain nature as accurately as possible at a doctor’s appointment. Also, the doctor may need other information: the localization of pain (where does it hurt?), the intensity of pain (how does it hurt?), the frequency of pain (how often does it hurt?), what is accompanied by pain and what provokes it (intensifies it).

The attack of pain can be accompanied by various unpleasant sensations: nausea, vomiting, dizziness, face and hands numbness, photo- and acoustophobia. Each patient has his own set of complaints to describe the attack, and this also depends on the original cause of pain.

An important point is the information about the method of headache neutralization; it helps doctor to clarify possible disease aetiology. All these questions doctor asks not out of simple curiosity, but because the correctly collected anamnesis (i.e. your complaints) is 80% of the correct diagnosis.

Many people know that headache emerges when blood pressure rises or falls, with ENT-organs chronic conditions and paranasal sinuses, after previous infections and head injuries, with trigeminal and facial nerve neuralgia, autonomic dysfunctions, and intoxication. It can also be a symptom of serious diseases such as meningitis, cerebral hemorrhage, or brain tumor. Currently, there are about 45 diseases in which headache can occur.

But not everyone knows that most often the headache cause lies outside the skull cavity. Cervical spine osteochondrosis, leading to the neck and shoulder girdle muscle and tonic syndromes, is always accompanied by severe pain in the head. In addition, with cervical osteochondrosis, vertebral arteries disorders can occur, and this further aggravates the disease. In this case, pain in the head can be joined by tinnitus, seeing spots, diminished hearing and vision.

In any case, pain is an alarm signal that body sends us in case of danger. It means our organism is not healthy and needs help. Therefore, when you take painkillers (analgesics), you do not eliminate the cause, but simply turn the signal off and delay your visit to a doctor.

Everyone knows that the vast majority of diseases are successfully cured if they are diagnosed at an early stage. Therefore, it is not recommended to delay your visit to the doctor, especially if headache attacks occur frequently, they are painful and difficult to stop.

Remember that timely and proper treatment is a guarantee of health for many years!