The top of the head hurts: causes of the ailment and getting rid of them

A shooting headache is characterized by single “shots”, less often in a series. During their lifetime, 1–2% of the population may periodically experience lumbago; the question is how dangerous they can be, and whether it is worth sounding the alarm right away.

In its standard form, the pain is of medium or high intensity, as a rule, it more often affects women, and often occurs against the background of headaches of a different nature, for example, migraines. Painful sensations are localized in the area of ​​the eyes and the front of the head, and from 1 to 50 attacks can occur per day.

First of all, it is necessary to rule out problems with the eyes: visit an ophthalmologist if attacks occur frequently and are characteristic of the same place in the eye area. If this is not an eye pathology, then shooting pain in the head may be a symptom of neuralgia.

General description of the condition

The official name of the pathology is “cranialgia”. There is no need for provoking reasons for the appearance of paresis; pain occurs on its own unexpectedly. The anomaly can be characterized by the following features:

• a sudden painful impulse lasting from a few seconds to many hours (sometimes persistent);
• high intensity of pain, further intensifying when moving the eyeballs;
• it is impossible to touch the affected area, analgesics are also powerless;
• The temporal and occipital region suffers most often;
• there is a possibility of fever or vomiting;
• irradiation to the shoulder girdle, neck, shoulder blades;
• twitching sensations in the ears when hearing sounds;
• touching the face, smiling, coughing lead to new lumbago, “bell blows” inside the skull;
• arms and legs become numb, muscles are pulled, gait becomes swaying;
• gradually developing apathy to what is happening around, all thoughts are occupied with pain.

In the chronic course of the pathology, when it manifests itself quite often, intellectual and psychological changes occur, since pain displaces all other sensations and emotions. A person is busy only with himself, constantly expects an attack, becomes irritable, loses interest and the ability to remember basic data (for example, the security code of a plastic card or his telephone number).

Treatment of left-sided headaches

Treatment is prescribed only based on the results of the examination. There are various techniques that can be used in the hospital and at home. So, in case of a sudden headache, doctors recommend ventilating the room, doing a neck and head massage, drinking water and taking a short rest. If the discomfort persists, you can take medicine. The most common recommendations from doctors against headaches include:

• painkillers that relieve acute pain - they can be taken at home, but should not be abused unnecessarily;
• antispasmodics - relieve vascular spasm and restore normal blood circulation;
• massage - it’s worth making an appointment with a specialist who will also show you how to reduce pain at home;
• physiotherapy is effective for osteochondrosis, neck diseases and during the rehabilitation period after injuries;
• specific treatment - you may need a course of drugs to strengthen intervertebral discs (chondrol protectors), drugs to normalize metabolism in atherosclerosis and other drugs to treat the underlying disease;
• surgical treatment is rarely used; it may be recommended in the presence of tumors, cysts and foci of sclerosis that interfere with the normal functioning of the brain and tend to increase in size.

The Clinical Brain Institute specializes in the treatment of diseases that manifest themselves as headaches. Qualified specialists of a wide and narrow profile work here, and there is also the opportunity to undergo a full examination, including specific techniques. There are different ways to get rid of a headache, but only a doctor can suggest the most effective and safe one.

Unfavorable factors

Various disorders in the body can cause an abnormal condition. Most often this is associated with the functionality of the spine, its diseases (osteochondrosis, hernia, tumors of various types, spondylosis, previous trauma). These disorders lead to compressive pressure on the roots of the nerve canals, which causes severe pain to be transmitted to the central nervous system. Each touching of a nerve, its compression leads to an attack.

There is a high probability of pain paresis with previously diagnosed diseases:

• trigeminal neuritis;
• traumatic brain injury;
• damage to the glossopharyngeal processes;
• aneurysm, hematoma, tumor formations and cysts;
• osteomyelitis of the jaw.

A previous infection can also become an unfavorable factor, since extensive inflammation damages the internal organs of hearing and smell, and affects the intracranial nerve pathways.

Shooting pain in the head is a symptom of neuralgia

Shooting pain in the head is a common symptom of cranial neuralgia. The most common neuralgia is the trigeminal nerve, which has three large branches going to the upper, middle and lower parts of the face. According to the damage to one of the branches, the symptoms will differ:

• Pain in the forehead, eyes - when the first branch is affected.
• Pain in the cheek and temple area is the second branch.
• Pain in the lower jaw, ear, temple - the third branch.

In practice, symptoms can be combined, since the innervation zones of the branches of the trigeminal nerve overlap slightly. The pain always occurs on one side - left or right, never moving to the opposite side.

The causes of neuralgia can be hypothermia, trauma to the nerve, or pinching of it at the point where it exits the skull. Neuralgia is often combined with herpetic rashes on the skin in the area of ​​pain, which indicates penetration of the herpes virus into the ganglion of the trigeminal nerve.

Shoots in the head with neuralgia suddenly, without any warning signs. Usually it is provoked by hypothermia of the face in the cold, cold wind, washing with cold water, shaving, chewing. Along with pain, sensitivity may decrease, numbness and “pins and needles” appear, which usually indicates involvement of a nerve ganglion in the process.

Methods for determining the disease

Since primary diseases leading to lumbago in the head can be localized and develop in different parts of the body, a comprehensive diagnosis is required. First, you need to contact a therapist who will assess the nature of the pain, accompanying complaints, conduct an examination, and make an assumption about the root causes. If necessary, other specialists will be involved in the work: a neurologist, otolaryngologist, vertebrologist, traumatologist or oncologist.

To obtain the most complete picture of the underlying disease, hardware studies are carried out, which include:

• Ultrasound of soft tissues.
• Angiography of blood vessels.
• CT scan of the cervical spine.
• MRI of the brain.
• Laboratory Analytics.

The best ways to identify the disease that led to cranialgia are tomographic procedures, since they determine even minor changes occurring in tissues with 100% accuracy. CT is better suited for studying skeletal structures and dense formations, intra-articular cavities, and nerves. Magnetic tomography does an excellent job of visualizing blood vessels and any soft tissue structures and organs. Microscopic cracks, tumors, cysts with different fillings, inflammations, hernias, aneurysms and other disorders clearly appear on tomographic scans.

Treatment of neuralgia

There are not many remedies that really help with neuralgia. Usually these are drugs that reduce nerve conduction, such as carbamazepine, tegretol. But in order for treatment for shooting pain in the head to be effective, it must eliminate the irritation of the nerve.

Often the nerve is pinched as it exits the skull due to bone displacement, for example after injury, or between blood vessels or strained muscles. Special osteopathic techniques can eliminate displacement and relieve irritation (irritation) of the nerve, after which the effect appears after a few days. Osteopathic treatment for shooting pain in the head does not require drugs or surgery.

Conditions for examination

A high-quality examination requires special conditions, which are available in specialized and multifunctional medical centers. Our free service will help you find such an institution. Here you can choose any service for MRI and CT, as well as other hardware tests, compare offers from different organizations on one page by prices, location, ratings. Set your search criteria, explore options, read reviews and sign up for a tomography through the website with discounts from the service.

Cephalgia in children

Pulsating discomfort in a child that is not accompanied by fever, cough and runny nose should alert parents. In such cases, it is important to consult a doctor. Such manifestations may indicate problems with the child’s health.

The phenomenon can be triggered by:

• disease of the vascular system;
• neuralgia;
• migraine;
• injury;
• emotional condition;
• poor nutrition;
• the presence of provoking external factors.

Treatment methods

Doctors will select an individual treatment regimen that will help relieve not only the pain syndrome, but also its cause. Depending on the cause and nature of the headache, the patient’s age and the presence of concomitant diseases, the following techniques may be prescribed:

• drug treatment: for mild headaches, use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Ibuprofen), as well as painkillers (Analgin);
• antibiotics - indicated for purulent otitis and other diseases that are accompanied by bacterial infection;
• physiotherapy - a course of procedures designed to improve blood circulation and innervation of certain areas;
• nootropics are substances that improve blood supply to the brain and are used as an addition to the main therapy regimen.

The Clinical Brain Institute provides treatment for headaches of various origins in inpatient or outpatient settings. Therapy is carried out under the supervision of specialists, with constant assessment of its effectiveness and the dynamics of the patient’s condition. Doctors warn that self-medication can be dangerous and lead to complications, so at the first symptoms it is important to seek medical help.

Diagnosis of cranialgia

To eliminate a shooting headache, it is necessary to determine what led to its development. First, you need to visit a therapist, who, after examination and tests, will refer you for a consultation to specialists of a narrow profile:

1. ENT doctor. He will assess the condition of the hearing organs and examine the nasal cavity to exclude infectious diseases.
2. Vertebrologist. He checks the condition of the spine to exclude cervical osteochondrosis.
3. Neurologist. The doctor performs a brain examination to rule out dangerous diseases and inflammations.

If one of the above pathological processes was detected, the patient will need to undergo head and cervical diagnostics:

• MRI;
• X-ray;
• Ultrasound.

Possible causes, associated symptoms

It’s hard to argue, but a headache is an unpleasant condition that can exhaust a person. The sensations can vary significantly: they can be easily eliminated by taking certain medications, or they can intensify, regardless of the measures taken. However, there are a number of situations when a simple pill is far from enough; you have to resort to more radical methods, the need for which is determined by the doctor after a thorough examination.

It's worth knowing why it's really important to see a doctor immediately if:

• balance is disturbed, up to complete disorientation;
• burning pain;
• vision deteriorates sharply;
• very dizzy;
• pressure drops are observed;
• vomiting begins;
• a person loses memory;
• temperature rises;
• the mucous membrane in the mouth dries out;
• painful to touch.

It is also strictly forbidden to endure if you have a headache in the crown area; painkillers do not help. Situations are increasingly common where the main cause is constant stress, chronic fatigue, insufficient rest, and a busy work schedule. Moreover, oxygen deficiency cannot be discounted.

Headache in the parietal part of the head, causes, along with those listed above, also belong to the risk group:

• physical fatigue;
• unbalanced diet;
• bad habits;
• arterial type hypertension;
• pathological deviations of the cervical area, causing circulatory problems.

For situations when the head begins to hurt from above, with pressing sensations spreading along the back of the head, sides, like a hat, while there is noise in the ears, there is reason to assume an increase in pressure, the pulse may become shorter.

Quite often, such conditions are accompanied by numbness in the occipital region, due to which a person completely involuntarily strains the muscles of the neck, which further increases the discomfort, making it impossible to touch.

Let us immediately note that for patients who have pain in the parietal part of the head, the causes are usually the psycho-emotional stress they experience on an ongoing basis.

The only correct solution to cope with such a situation is proper rest and maximum attention to your own health.

It is also important to learn to abstract yourself from problems that cause stress.

Things are much more serious when the disease is a consequence of a head injury.

The most common signs accompanying unpleasant sensations in the parietal part are:

• dizziness, especially when bending sharply;
• rapid pulse;
• compression of the temples in the middle;
• severe weakness.

All this is clear evidence of the presence of serious disorders in the body, which should be identified as quickly as possible with subsequent treatment.

Although it is worth noting that it is enough to get a sore throat, a cold, a cough, a bad tooth, this can also cause unpleasant sensations throughout the body, and not just at the top - the head: the ear shoots, the nose runs, as if the throat is “burning”.