Cause Of Headaches
What we refer to as headaches may occur very frequently in various areas of the head like for example behind the head, in the upper neck or ears. In addition, headaches are usually not taken as a sickness, but rather a an indication of another sickness. Causes for headaches are many and these causes could vary from one person to the other. Moreover, as sometimes the treatment is quite tough, it is crucial to correctly diagnose the reason for the headache.
Before any treatment, the headache should be first categorized. There are several methods to classify headaches although the most well known method was put forward by the International Headache Society. According to this classification method, there are three major types of headaches and each type has different causes of headaches.
Primary causes of headaches are one of the major kinds of headaches and could be further classified as tension headaches, migraine headaches and cluster headaches.
The major culprit in the case of tension headaches tend to be either physical or mental stress. It is said that almost 90% of all adults would experience tension headaches during their lives. Compared to men women appear to be more prone to experience tension headaches. Migraine headaches are also a frequent kind of headache with almost 12% of the US population (around 28 million people) experiences this type of headache. Although both of these headaches are very common, cluster headaches are rather rare with affecting only 0.1% of the population. The exact cause of headache in both migraine related and cluster headaches has not yet been identified. However, none of the above three headaches are life threatening.
Although the cause of headache in primary headaches may not prove to be fatal, secondary headaches may signal a far more dangerous situation. Due to conditions like meningitis, brain tumors, strokes and encephalitis secondary headaches could come about. Therefore, it’s vital that one seeks medical attention when one shows headache associated symptoms such as seizures, continuing nausea and vomiting, and vision, speech and behavior changes. There is also another type of headaches called Cranial neuralgia where the cause of headache is inflamed nerves in the head and the neck. In addition to this, facial pains and other various headaches are also included.
It’s very important that the you visit your physician if the headache persists in a severe manner though you might be able to get some relief in the short term through painkilling drugs like asprin or paracetamol. Additionally, the painkilling drugs including paracetamol should be used in the recommended doses as an overdose might have adverse consequences such as heavy liver damage which would sometimes prove to be life threatening.
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Gresham Chiropractor