SUPRISING REASONS YOU COULD BE EXPERIENCING HEADACHES .

Experiencing headaches? Almost everyone has experienced headaches in their lives due to one or two reasons.Are you a student who stays up all night to study?Are you a lactating mother who stays up all night to breastfeed your new born?Are you stressed at work or school? Do you have any disease which presents with headache?Then this article is right for you.Headaches can be really disturbing.Different people experience it for different reasons.

If your doctor has diagnosed you with hypertension,then I'm sure headaches are not new to you.

Yes,whatever will cause your blood pressure to rise may come with headaches.It presents as a dull ache behind the eyes or a throbbing pain in your temples.It is associated with nausea,dizziness and blurred vision.Most hypertensive headaches don't resolve with analgesics like diclofenac.Till you take your anti-hypertensive drugs,the headache won't resolve.

Subarachnoid headaches are associated with long standing hypertension which may come with cerebral aneurysms and subarachnoid hemorrhage.It is often described as the worst headache of my life.

Aneurysm is a vascular dilation,that is,a segment of the blood vessels in the brain may become dilated like a small balloon and this may cause reduced blood flow to some parts of the brain.The aneurysm may rupture or burst causing severe bleeding into the subarachnoid space

It is often described as your worse headache of your life.The headache is of sudden onset and very unbearable such that you have to seek medical treatment at that very moment.

One of the commonest cause of headache is migraine.

Some migraines run in families.Migraines often present as one sided headache which is worse upon change in position.People with migraines have increased sensitivity to light(photophobia) and this triggers their pain episode.It may present with nausea.Make sure to identify your triggers.Some may be stress,hormonal changes,exercise etc.

Have you heard of sinus headaches?

They are very disturbing too.It can be found in all age groups but mostly common in children.It is a bacteria infection and it presents with inflammation of the mucous membrane of your paranasal sinuses.The sinuses are air filled cavities in your head that lighten the weight of your skull and gives resonance to speech. They make mucoid discharges which drain into the nasal cavity.There are 4 sinuses and each is paired making 8 in total.These are frontal,ethmoidal,maxillary and sphenoidal sinuses.Sinusitis presents with constitutional symptoms like fever,chills, and headache.Aside that,there will be the presence of a mucoid discharge from the nose and in chronic sinusitis,the discharge is thick yellow green with offensive smell.Halitosis,that is,odour from the mouth is common in the chronic states.If the problem is from your frontal sinus,the pain will be felt from the area just above your eye brows.If it is from the ethmoidal sinuses,the pain is felt at the area in between your eyes.For maxillary sinus,the pain is felt just below your lower eyelids and at the sides of your nose.And for sphenoidal sinus,the pain is felt behind your eyes and at the back of your head.Sinus headaches is treated with some antibiotics,nasal drops,pain medications and in the chronic states,your doctor may wash the affected sinus for you(antral wash out) or remove the mucous membrane of the affected sinus.

Stress is a very common cause of headache.A newborn mother may be stressed such that she has to stay up all night caring for the baby.As a student,you may have an upcoming exam which may cause you to stay up all night to study.All these instances presents with lack of sleep which may trigger headache.In such situations,you just have to relax and get some sleep and you will be good.

Mood disorders like depression and mania comes with headache.Classical symptoms of depression include fatigue or low energy,feelings of  hopelessness and loss of pleasure in previously pleasurable activities.Some depressed people may have insomnia and or sleeplessness.In mania,such people are so hyperactive that they have a depressed need for sleep.The lack of sleep usually may trigger a headache.In such cases,your physician may need to work out to find the cause of your depression or mania and subject you to psychotherapy and or drugs.

Post-traumatic headaches are usually associated with injury to the head such as in road traffic accidents.In such instances,there could be blood vessel damage causing bleeding,nerve damage or break in bone.Head injuries are mostly treated with urgency especially if it involves the cervical neck.

 Another reason why you could be experiencing headache is temporal arteritis.

This is very common in people over 50 years and there is no known cause of this headache.This headache is in the temporal area of the head and is due to inflammation of the small arteries in that area.It presents with pain and fatigue,fever,jaw pain worse on chewing,muscle aches,loss of appetite and weight loss.Temporal arteritis,if not diagnosed early can lead to blindness in one or both eyes,aneurysms(balloting of blood vessel which may burst) and in extreme cases,stroke.This kind of stroke is called transient ischemic attack.

Tension headache is a mild to moderate dull headache which often presents as a tightness or pressure across the forehead.

Note that this headache does not get worse on movement and its causes include lack of sleep,dehydration,stress,bad posture,overexertion,arthritis of the neck and tension in the muscles of the neck,jaw and face.Treatment may include stress reduction,good posture and pain medications.

Most eye conditions like glaucoma often present with headaches.The headache may be felt in or around the eyes and the forehead.

Acute angle closure glaucoma is associated with very severe headache.It is associated with very high intraocular pressure  and is common in Asians.In other words,the fluid inside your eye become so much that it exerts pressure on the other structures of the eye.Sometimes,glaucoma headaches may be mistaken for migraine.If your headache is associated with eye pain,then you may need to see an ophthalmologist who will measure the pressure in your eye.In migraine,there is no rise in the pressure within the eye but glaucoma comes with increase in the pressure within the eye.The pressure within the eye is called intraocular pressure and is accounted for by the fluid in the eye(aqueous humour).It's mainly based on the balance between drainage and production of the the aqueous humour.

Cluster headache.

This also comes with sudden severe pain on one side of the head and the area around the eye and tend to come in bouts or cluster periods.They are very uncommon and may involve tearing of the eyes with drooping eyelid.They can occur so many times in a day,in cycles of weeks to months before they resolve.

Note that headache is a constitutional symptom,that is,so many diseases which are not even happening in the head can come with headache.And this headache can range from mild to moderate.Conditions like tonsilitis,malaria,adenoiditis,adenoid hypertrophy etc all present with headaches.Constipation may present with headache.It is always imperative to seek medical treatment especially if your headache is so unusual.