Headaches are a common problem that most people will experience in their lifetime. Some people’s headaches are worse and more frequent than others and can significantly affect their quality of life. Whilst most headaches can be managed with lifestyle changes and over the counter (OTC) medications, it may also be a symptom of something sinister. Thus, knowing what some of the red flags might be will help you seek early medical attention.
Common types of headaches will include migraines, tension-type headaches and cluster headaches.
What causes headaches?
These are primary causes of headaches that can usually be managed with lifestyle changes and pain-relieving medications. Below are some descriptions of each type:
- Migraine: the most common cause of headaches. They usually start from the face or behind the eye. These can be associated with aura before onset or during the headache. Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, discomfort and worsening pain while looking at bright lights or seeing flashes of light. These may be precipitated with alcohol, caffeine withdrawal, chocolates and even during menstruation.
- Tension-type headaches: typically presents as a band like pain across both temporal regions. These headaches may have focal pain over muscles of the head and face.
- Cluster headaches: recurrent severe headaches affecting one side of the head over a course of 4 to 12 weeks. These may be associated with nasal congestion, runny nose, tearing of the eye and facial flushing.
When should I be worried about my headaches?
The red flags for headaches that one should be concerned with include:
- Sudden onset thunderclap headache (worst headache of your life)
- Development of persistent numbness or weakness in the face, arms or legs during or after headaches
- Persistent fever, pain in the eye when looking at bright lights or neck stiffness
- Change in nature, increasing frequency and severity of headaches, or headaches not resolving with over-the-counter medications
- Worsening headaches after a recent fall or injury to the head
What could these headaches mean?
These red flags above may suggest something sudden like a stroke or a ruptured aneurysm in the brain. These conditions require immediate medical attention as early intervention is key to better recovery. Strokes can be due to obstruction of the blood flow within the vessels, or it could be due to bleeding from rupture of a diseased vessel. This would require medication or endovascular devices to unblock the vessel for the former; or surgery to evacuate blood clots for the latter.
Ruptured cerebral aneurysms are neurosurgical emergencies and are treated with either endovascular techniques or open neurosurgery to prevent further bleeding and damage. Other times, it could be brain tumours, infections spreading to the brain or even blood clots developing after injuries.
What treatment is available?
With the improvements in medical imaging (CT scans and MRI), these conditions can be detected and treated earlier to improve patient outcomes. Tumours and blood clots will require surgical removal while infections in the brain might require surgical drainage on top of intravenous antibiotics.
In addition, innovative advancements in surgical technologies i.e. operative microscopy and endoscopy, intraoperative navigation during surgery, intraoperative brain and nerve monitoring have improved the safety of brain surgery, making it easier and safer to treat these difficult brain conditions.
If you are suffering from headaches and need to speak to a specialist, please contact us at https://www.femsurgery.com/contact-us/
