How to Identify a Dangerous Headache?
Headache is a sensitive condition that can arise due to various reasons. In some patients, headaches occur due to common causes, while in many others, there are specific underlying reasons. Common causes like cold, fever, dehydration, or sometimes stress can lead to headaches. These types of headaches usually go away on their own over time.
However, if your headache is caused by a dangerous condition and you don’t receive timely treatment, there is a high risk of death or disability.
Headaches Due to Specific Causes Are of Two Types:
1. Primary Headache
These types of headaches occur due to internal causes in the brain but generally do not appear in tests like MRI or CT scans. Though they don’t cause death, they can severely affect quality of life.
Examples include:
Migraine Headache:
In migraines, the headache usually starts on one side of the head and, in about one-third of patients, occurs on both sides.
Other symptoms include:
- Pain shifting from one side of the head to the other.
- Throbbing or pulsating pain, sometimes accompanied by pain around the eyes, forehead, or neck.
- Nausea, vomiting, intolerance to bright light, noise, or sound, and cold limbs.
Patients with migraines often feel better in a dark, quiet room, and such headaches may last anywhere from 4 to 72 hours.
Tension-Type Headache:
This is the most common type of headache.
- The pain is usually mild to moderate.
- It feels like a tight band around the head.
Cluster Headache:
In cluster headaches, there is intense pain, usually around one eye.
- It may be accompanied by excessive tearing from the eye and a runny nose on the same side.
- The pain is short-lived but can occur multiple times a day, continuing for several months.
2. Secondary Headache
The causes of these headaches are usually visible in diagnostic tests like MRI or CT scans.
Conditions under this category include:
- Stroke
- Brain tumors
- Meningitis
- Brain hemorrhage
- Hydrocephalus
- Idiopathic intracranial hypertension
Early diagnosis in these cases is crucial because any delay in treatment could be fatal. Patients must seek immediate medical attention.
Symptoms That Help Differentiate Secondary from Primary Headaches:
- Experiencing the first headache that is unbearable.
- Headache intensity increasing over time or changing in nature.
- Headache accompanied by fever or weight loss.
- Decreased consciousness, seizures, or weakness/numbness/paralysis on one side of the body.
Therefore, if you frequently experience headaches or suspect dangerous causes, it is essential to consult a neurologist immediately.