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TENSION HEADACHE:
Tension headaches are
the most common. They are from no apparent disease and are triggered
by emotional stress. Women are more commonly affected. Persisting
tension headaches must be investigated to rule out eye strain, dental
problems, sinusitis, jaw-occlusion problems or cervical arthritis
which are normally not symptomatic but present as headache
precipitated by stress and should not be dismissed as psychological.
Your local doctor can help.
VASCULAR HEADACHE:
Vascular headache is
produced by a variety of blood vessel problems. Extraordinary swings
in blood pressure may cause transient headache. Acute severe headache
with or without disturbance in consciousness is usually due to
bleeding in the brain precipitated by
acute
profound rise in blood pressure; or
aneurysms (abnormal ballooning of blood vessel); or
arteriovenous malformations (abnormal bunch of blood vessels) and
requires immediate
hospitalization. Inflammation of scalp blood vessels cause headache
with tender spots, usually on the sides and require further
investigations.
MIGRAINE:
Migraine
usually occurs on the one side of the head. The classic type starts
with a premonitory sign such as blind spots, localized weakness or
numbness which clears as the headache disappears. Nausea or vomiting
may be associated. Women are more susceptible. The problem may run in
families. Various medications are available for effective control.
Only your doctor can select the one that suits you.
BRAIN
TUMORS:
Headache
is the late symptom of brain tumor. Typically the patient wakes up
with headache which gets worse day by day and is associated with
nausea, vomiting, visual problems and/or progressive weakness of
limbs. It requires urgent investigations.
FACIAL
PAIN:
Facial
pain may be sharp, short-lived and confined to one side of the face
and is usually due to involvement of the nerve supplying that part of
the face. They are often mistaken for tooth-ache. It is easily
controlled with medication. If medication fails surgery may help.
More
diffuse and chronic pain, usually called atypical facial pain, must be
evaluated for more malignant causes such as throat cancer or tooth
abscess.
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