We all face headaches, though not so often. But what should we do if we have headaches all the time instead of three times a month? It can be caused by lifestyle as well as by poor health.
How lifestyle affects headaches
If you suffer from regular headaches, pay attention to your habits. Discomfort can come from fatigue, hunger, lack of sleep, overexertion, or stress. To get rid of the pain, try changing your routine for at least a couple of weeks:
Go to bed early – a person needs at least 8 hours of sleep to rest. But do not sleep more than 10 hours. If you do, your oxygen and blood sugar levels will drop and cause headaches.
If you sit for a long time at books, the computer or your work is connected with looking at small details, distract yourself once in half an hour. Stand up, stretch, and do not strain your eyes for at least a couple of minutes.
Avoid drinking alcohol. It affects your blood pressure and affects the condition of your head vessels.
Try to avoid stressful situations and negative emotions. If the headache is not caused by a disease, these simple tips will help you avoid it.
To relieve pain, you can take an analgesic (which medicine is suitable for you will help your doctor to choose), have a snack, lie down to sleep for half an hour, air the room and do head massage.
When to see a neurologist
There are very few diseases that affect nerve tissue and the brain. Headaches can be caused by:
Neuralgia of the facial and trigeminal nerves – in it, the nerve fibers are pinched and inflamed, which can make you feel pain all the time;
Necological neoplasms. Both benign and malignant tumors put pressure on blood vessels and increase intracranial pressure. Your head only hurts on the side where the tumor is located. The disease may be suspected by the general deterioration of the condition, fever, lethargy and fatigue.
When your head hurts all the time, your doctor may refer you for an MRI or CT scan of your head
If the causes of the headache are not clear, the neurologist will refer you to an MRI or CT scan of the brain – there they will quickly determine the cause of the discomfort. And if there is nothing wrong with the brain itself, a competent neurologist will be able to find the source of the pain and refer you to a doctor of the right specialty.
Heart and spine as a cause of pain
Headaches are often caused by problems with the heart and blood vessels. Older people are usually affected, but some diseases are common among young people as well:
High and low blood pressure. The head hurts when the weather changes, when you rise sharply, you may begin to feel dizzy and get dark in the eyes. This is associated with vascular tension and oxygen starvation of the brain.
Vascular diseases. In these, the pain lasts for several hours in the eye area, and the nose may bleed.
Sclerosis and constriction of blood vessels are the inevitable companions of atherosclerosis and scoliosis. Due to the decreased lumen of the blood vessels, less oxygen reaches the brain, and the head begins to hurt either all over, or in the back of the head and temples.
Stroke – Thrombosis or rupture of cerebral vessels. Severe dull pain appears, the person may lose mobility on one side of the face or body, and stop recognizing familiar objects. At the first symptoms of stroke it is necessary to call an ambulance urgently – in a few hours the brain will begin to die out.
To detect problems with blood pressure you just need to monitor your condition. It is not a coincidence that at every visit to the therapist you always have your blood pressure measured. Do not be frightened if on any day it has changed: it’s perfectly normal. But vascular diseases can only be seen on a brain MRI or magnetic resonance angiography. You will be referred for these examinations in order to get an accurate diagnosis if you don’t get one right away.
If you have back problems, it is likely to be the cause of your headaches. Any postural curvature, bone enlargement on the vertebrae, hernias and protrusion lead to the pinching of blood vessels. And because of this the brain can not get oxygen and nutrients, which causes pain, fatigue and drowsiness, much less pain from the spine goes to the head. This happens with injuries, hernias and curvatures of the cervical and upper thoracic spine.
The head can hurt all the time because of a lack of oxygen after a neck injury
Problems of the spine are dealt with by a neurologist and orthopedic surgeon. The doctor will pay attention to the curvature of the back in the first place during a simple visual examination. To confirm the diagnosis the doctor may prescribe X-rays, MRI or CT scan of the damaged spine.