Kinds of a headache: the reasons and features of a clinical picture

One of the most common complaints in modern people is head pain. It differs in intensity and localization, duration and provoking factors. The international classification of headaches distinguishes:

• primary - tensile, beam and primary other headaches, migraine;
• secondary - caused by vascular damage, infectious agents, head and neck trauma, tumors, mental illnesses, toxic substances and others;
• cranial( cranial) neuralgia.

Consider what headaches are and what they can testify about.

Unilateral head pain

Cervicogenic headache belongs to unilateral chronic diseases. It occurs when the vessels, muscles and joints of the cervical spine are affected. Its distinctive feature is a strict and constant localization on the one hand, a blunt and long-lasting medium-intensity character.

Pain sensations occur first in the neck and spread to the nape and frontal part. Risk factors include a long forced uncomfortable position of the spine, weak neck muscles. In the early stages of taking drugs eliminates manifestations, with chronic - difficult to give therapy.

Beam headache( beam migraine) is characterized as paroxysmal pain in the eye and temple area, manifested daily and more often affects men. The main reasons may be an imbalance of the circadian rhythm, some drugs( nitroglycerin) against a background of weighed heredity.

Pain occurs several times a day, forming a conditional "bundle", has an unbearable force, provoking aggression, anxiety right up to suicide. It is accompanied by increased sweating of the face, swelling of the eyelids and lacrimation.

Recurrence of attacks of intense pain around the eye at night is determined by the concept - histamine headache. Its causes are unknown, however, it often occurs in people who abuse alcohol and nicotine, products with tyramine( liver chicks, red wine, hard cheeses cheddar and camembert, peppers), with emotional and physical overloads.

Characteristic manifestations:

• occurs 1 to 3 hours after falling asleep;
• pain sensations as a "hot object inside the eye", can spread to the head on one side;
• lasts 30-120 minutes;
• the affected eye has a narrowed pupil, peeled and hangs over the eyelid;
• from the nose are marked mucous discharge, the face "burns".

Headache caused by

medications A wide range of OTC drugs and a "habit" of self-medication have caused the analgesic-dependent or abusutic headache to come second in the . This form belongs to secondary pathologies and occurs when uncontrolled taking painkillers.

Important! The headache is formed in individuals who regularly and continuously take various medications for the treatment of migraine and tension headache and are not formed if the patient uses analgesics for another disease.

Abysus pain is more likely:

• hypochondriac and vulnerable people( hypochondriacs);
• persons with heightened anxiety and depression in the anamnesis;
• , the presence of similar cases in the family - heredity, especially in combination with alcoholism and drug addiction;
• patients who have a fear of having pain and who take analgesics in order to prevent its occurrence.

Typical symptoms include permanent moderate head pain, their intensity increases with physical and mental stress. Negative effect is the withdrawal of the drug - the pain is exacerbated.

The patient feels pain throughout the head, in the front-occipital area on both sides, more often of a pressing character. Medications do not relieve pain, which last at least 14 days a month for 3 months.

It should be noted that if the patient's condition does not stabilize after a 2-month break in the use of analgesics, then probably another cause is headaches.

Stress, injuries and infections as causes of headache

Tension headaches or strains appear in adults after stress. Provokes their appearance lack of quality sleep and rest, hunger, external or internal stresses, incorrect posture. They are noted in patients in the middle or in the end for and affect the frontal and temporal parts of the head.

The pain has a compressive nature and different intensity, combined with increased irritability and difficulty to concentrate, chronic fatigue and decreased performance, problems fall asleep.

Appearance of pain in the nape of the neck with the transition to the frontal part and whiskey is referred to as a wandering headache. It can be considered as a residual phenomenon after concussion as a result of a traumatic brain injury. Also, the appearance of such an attack is a harbinger of malignant neoplasms of the brain.

Important! If the attack does not go away after the external stimuli are turned off( intense light, loud sounds), repeated several times and combined with nausea or vomiting, weakness and drowsiness, you should consult a doctor.

The shroud of the head resembles a tight hula hoop. The patient complains of stupid pains compressing from the outside, caused by muscle spasm. Also called - pain of the head of muscle tension. It is typical for cervical osteochondrosis, forced posture in certain professions, infectious diseases( tuberculosis, measles, influenza and ARVI) due to intoxication.

Headache "born since childhood"

Psychogenic headache indicates a special psychotype of a person( asthenic, hypochondriac, a person prone to depression) and is formed in the absence of organic and psychiatric diseases and abnormalities.

The basis for the onset of pain is neurological factors in the form of compensation in response to a complex emotional problem. There are 2 categories of reasons:

1. Internal - a combination of congenital and acquired reactions to the negative events and stresses that are formed from childhood. If the child sees that complaints of pain help to avoid guilt or punishment, a psychodynamic sphere is formed.
2. External - the microsocial circumstances that determine the consolidation of emotions. If the child is brought up strictly and he gets tenderness and care only when there is pain, then a factor of pain reinforcement is formed. And, on the contrary, ignoring or punishing the child at that moment sharply reduces the intensity of manifestations. Also, manipulation with a headache for your own benefit is called a communication factor.

Long-term reinforcement of the incorrect emotional state of the baby or adult leads to functional changes in the nervous system, which are accompanied by vasospasm and muscle spasms, pressure changes, pain receptors and pain sensations.

It is manifested by complaints of pain without clear localization on the head and throughout the body, exacerbated after stress and negative circumstances for about half a year, often combined with depression or depressed condition, nervousness and irritability.

Behind the character, patients notice aching, cramping or drawing pain, its intensity does not decrease after using painkillers and anti-inflammatory medications, the condition improves after antidepressants.

Thus, the types of headache, their underlying causes and accompanying symptoms are described to improve the diagnosis and increase the promptness in the early stages of medical advice.