Causes and types of headache

Probably every person, even considering himself completely healthy, has repeatedly encountered a headache problem in his life. If you take a large medical encyclopedia, then such a symptom as a headache, will accompany from 50 to 70% of all pathological conditions. Therefore it is difficult to unequivocally reveal the cause of the constant headache.

Kinds of a headache

To find the answer to the question of why there are headaches, you first need to determine the symptoms of their manifestation. Headache is different:

• by degree of intensity( unbearable, strong, tolerant, weak);
• for localization( in the occipital, temporal, parietal, frontal or center of the head);
• on prevalence( one-sided, symmetrical bilateral, in the form of a hoop, generalized);
• for consistency in its localization or migration;
• by nature( squeezing or bursting, pulsating or dull);
• may have additional symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, flies before the eyes, visual disturbances, hearing, photophobia, mental disorders, fever, the presence of symptoms of infectious diseases;
• association with the acceptance of alcohol or other psychoactive substances.

Causes of a headache in the morning, usually infrequent, weak, blunt, incomprehensible localization, against a background of normal health, are often:

• lack of sleep;
• neuropsychological overwork;
• overexcitation;
• emotional outbursts of anger;
• lived through fear.

As a rule, with such pain a person does not consult a doctor. It is enough for him to adjust his regime of work and rest, to get a good night's sleep, to cheer up a walk in the fresh air, to get distracted from negative thoughts and anxious state. If the malaise passes after rest, do not be too worried. If the symptom is associated with the use of alcohol and other psychoactive substances, it makes no sense to consult a doctor, unless it is to get rid of addiction. Since, having eliminated the cause - eliminate the pain.

The most common causes of headaches.

However, if headaches are repeated regularly or they are of high intensity, interfere with work and live, you need to sound an alarm. Headache, which can not be ignored, is most often caused by the following reasons.

Violations of cerebral vascular tone

Violation of the vascular tone may be in hypertensive disease, which also increases intracranial pressure, which causes a throbbing headache. With hypotension, the expansion of the vessels of the brain leads to a sharp drop in pressure, stagnant phenomena, which causes a severe headache.

Migraine and cluster headaches

Separately, migraine and cluster headaches are isolated, the causes of which have not yet been fully explored. However, it is established that they are of a genetic nature. Migraine is a neurological disease in which intracranial pressure does not change, and the cause of a sharp paroxysmal headache is the increased sensitivity of pain receptors in the vascular wall.

Cluster pains are associated with a cyclical disruption of the hypothalamus, resulting in a failure of the hormonal, enzymatic activity of the brain. Often this is associated with a daily rhythm and causes a sudden headache at night.

Infectious diseases of brain membranes

These are meningitis and encephalitis caused by a viral, bacterial or fungal flora. They can be independent diseases or complications of generalized infection. Quite often in spring there is tick-borne virus encephalitis, which is the cause of prolonged headache.

Inflammatory diseases of skull organs

Not only the inflammation of the membranes of the brain, but also all inflammatory diseases of the skull organs are accompanied by pain symptoms. These pathologies include:

• inflammation of the paranasal sinuses of various etiologies( sinusitis, frontalitis, etmoiditis and sinusitis);
• mean and internal otitis media;
• osteomyelitis of the mastoid or upper jaw, as complications of other diseases;
• inflammation of the facial nerves( often trigeminal);
• inflammation of the eye and paraorbital tissues.

Brain blood flow disorders.

As a result of cerebral artery atherosclerosis, thromboembolic disease, ischemia, vasospasms, cerebrovascular accidents occur - strokes. They can be ischemic and hemorrhagic( with hemorrhage).

Important! These conditions are extremely dangerous for life and require the provision of emergency medical care.

Blood supply disorders due to osteochondrosis of the cervical spine often causes permanent headaches.

Craniocerebral trauma

Acute craniocerebral injury as a result of a fall or stroke, with the presence of hematomas and a breach of the integrity of the skin, bones, are clearly accompanied by pain symptoms. However, the symptom may be a consequence of long-suffering craniocerebral injuries( including birth defects).This condition is called organic syndrome.

Tumors, cysts, cerebral artery aneurysms

Unfortunately, tumors and cysts of the brain can be asymptomatic for a long time. The presence of pain symptoms and its character determines the localization and magnitude of the tumor or cyst.

An aneurysm is an expansion of a cerebral vascular that can burst with sudden blood filling. The range of causes of these formations is very wide, from the genetic predisposition to the consequences of injuries and infections.

Birth trauma and congenital pathology in children

Prolonged oxygen starvation during labor, postpartum hematoma, cervical injuries and many other pathological conditions are accompanied by pain. Congenital malformations of the skull, rapid closure of the fontanelles, hydrocephalus - all these pathologies lead to increased intracranial pressure and constant pain in children .

In conclusion of the article, it is worth noting that the causes of the headache can be very different, ranging from trauma, intoxication and ending with neurological, somatic and oncological pathologies. If the pain is often troubling, it is necessary to contact a specialist to find out the cause and prescribe an adequate treatment.