Unpleasant sensations in the head area with pressure are a common symptom in many serious diseases. This is not an ordinary headache if the temple hurts when pressed. Therefore, it is worth paying close attention to the state of your health and undergo a full examination of the body.
Clinical picture
It is worth distinguishing a simple headache from sensations when pain occurs with pressure. These symptoms signal different diseases, they are not equivalent to each other. If the cause of migraine most often lies in impaired blood circulation of the brain and organic causes, then if the temple hurts when pressed, it is most likely a problem with blood vessels, osteochondrosis, and cardiac pathologies.
Often pressure on the temple, accompanied by pain, is characteristic of older people and neurotic personalities. At the same time, symptoms such as increased anxiety, insomnia, sleep problems, irritability, unmotivated aggression, obsession with certain events, and communication difficulties develop.
With such symptoms, it is highly recommended not to self-medicate. These may be manifestations of early dementia or neuropathy, encephalopathy. Medical treatment and competent selection of pharmacological agents will help stop the inevitable progression of the disease. And if the patient tries to self-medicate at home, then the symptoms will increase, and after a few years the person may be incapacitated.
Possible causes of this symptom
Why do whiskeys hurt when pressed? This is not a separate disease, but often signals serious health problems: cerebral vessels, blood pressure, vestibular apparatus, cervical spine.
The most common diseases in which the temple hurts when pressed:
- osteochondrosis of the cervical spine;
- hypertension
- vegetovascular dystonia;
- arrhythmia and cardiomyopathy;
- increased intracranial pressure;
- withdrawal syndrome;
- magnetic storms and high atmospheric pressure;
- chronic stress and overwork;
- excessive physical activity (leads to vascular overload and thinning of their walls).
Migraine, which at least once in a lifetime every person has experienced, is also manifested by pain when pressing on the temple. Chronic migraine with vegetovascular dystonia has a lot in common, and only an experienced neuropathologist can distinguish one diagnosis from another by the totality of a number of symptoms.
Intracranial pressure
If the indicators of intracranial pressure are significantly higher than normal, the patient feels a dull, prolonged pain in the neck and temples, which intensifies with strong pressure. People with increased intracranial pressure describe this condition as if water had accumulated in the skull and the head was about to burst. This condition sometimes occurs immediately after waking up. In some patients, on the contrary, exacerbation of symptoms occurs late in the evening.
In some cases, atmospheric pressure differences can cause jumps in intracranial pressure. This can cause the patient to wake up at night from severe migraines, while pressing on the temples and neck will cause acute pain. Chronic stress and overwork can also trigger an increase in intracranial pressure.
In the absence of drug treatment and lifestyle changes, intracranial pressure can lead to organic changes that will cause permanent chronic ailments. In the future, for the patient, this may threaten the possible development of encephalopathy, various neuropathies, and a decrease in cognitive functions.
Diseases of the cardiovascular system
The unstable functioning of the heart and blood vessels is a common cause of headache when pressed. These are serious conditions in which self-medication is unacceptable and a consultation with a cardiologist is necessary. Does the temple hurt on the right side when pressed and there is a pulsation of veins? Most likely, the cause is arrhythmia. In this condition, dizziness, darkening in the eyes also often occurs, short-term fainting occurs. The patient feels weak, nauseous. Does the temple hurt on the left side when pressed? Perhaps the cause is a jump in blood pressure. It is necessary to measure it regularly to exclude hypertension.
With a combination of all these symptoms, we can talk not only about arrhythmia, but also about angina pectoris, cardiomyopathy. With an increase in blood pressure, the nature of pain in the temples is stitching or throbbing. If the indicators are lowered, then pulling discomfort appears, dizziness, a short-term loss of consciousness may occur.
In some cases, problems with the functioning of the cardiovascular system are caused by differences in atmospheric pressure, weather changes, and chronic stress. Such a state must not be allowed to drift. It can cause chronic diseases of the heart and blood vessels.
Hormonal disorders
If it hurts near the temple when pressed by a woman, then perhaps the matter is in diseases of the hormonal system. With thyrotoxicosis, the symptomatology is varied - migraines and pain in the neck and temples can occur with pressure. With a deviation in TSH, hair loss (alopecia), asthenia, dysphoria, irritability, and anxiety are also possible.
Another reason why the temples hurt when pressed is premenstrual syndrome. This condition is not a disease and is typical for approximately 30% of women from 16 to 43 years old. To avoid it, before starting menstruation, you should rest more, exclude physical activity, hypothermia, stress. In some cases, a course of vasodilator drugs will help. A prescription for such medications can be obtained from a neurologist.
Local diseases
If it hurts just below the temple when pressed (the sensation is not located in the temple itself, but next to it), then most likely the cause is local diseases. This is meningitis, sinusitis, inflammation of the nasopharynx and sinuses, acute respiratory viral infections, and other infectious diseases. This is due to an increase in temperature and the accumulation of mucus in certain parts, which presses on the skull tissue with its volume.
Antiviral and immunomodulating drugs should be used to treat such conditions. These are "Kagocel", "Sinupret", "Arbidol" and others. An immunologist can prescribe a medicine that would ideally suit a particular patient and not cause side effects.
If the temple hurts on the right side when pressed (congestion of the nose, sore throat, enlarged lymph nodes and other symptoms of acute respiratory viral infections and influenza), the inflammatory process occurs on the right side of the nasopharynx, tonsils and sinuses. It is necessary to more actively apply therapeutic aerosols and sprays specifically for the treatment of the right nostril and side of the throat. Does the temple hurt on the left side when pressed? Accordingly, the inflammatory process is more active on the left.
Vegetative dystonia
This disease is a complex of functional disorders, based on a violation of the regulation of vascular tone of the autonomic nervous system. This is a common reason that the right temple hurts when pressed. Vegetovascular dystonia is characterized by pain in the temples and without pressure. In the early stages, it is just an unpleasant feeling of squeezing, as if the head is in a vice. In parallel with this, the patient often experiences anxiety, unmotivated fear, phobias and depressive disorders appear.
Among patients, there is an opinion that a neuropathologist diagnoses vegetovascular dystonia if he cannot correctly diagnose. Allegedly, the symptoms of VVD are so vast that they can be attributed to every second resident of our country. A competent neuropathologist will only laugh at a similar statement: the diagnosis of "vegetovascular dystonia" has clear symptoms and really exists, although it is difficult to respond to drug therapy. The condition of the patient with this disease can be significantly alleviated not by pills and injections, but by a change in lifestyle and the abandonment of bad habits (in particular, cigarette smoking).
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine
It has several stages. At the initial stage of development, this disease makes itself felt only with slight dizziness. In some cases, reduced vision (because the optic nerve is pinched). In the second stage of the patient, headaches begin to chase, short-term loss of consciousness is possible. The main difference between osteochondrosis and increased intracranial pressure is a sore neck, shoulders, and cartilage crackles when you rotate your head.
If in parallel with these symptoms the patient has a pain in the temple when pressed, then it can be confidently stated that the cause is osteochondrosis of the cervical spine. Therapist of this pathology is an orthopedist and neuropathologist. The following drugs are prescribed:
- Intramuscular injections of drugs, which include cyanocobalamin, pyridoxine, thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinic acid.
- OTC light nootropics.
- Vasodilator drugs.
- Medicines designed to make up for the deficiency of collagen and elastin in the body.
Arteritis of the temporal region
Arteritis is an inflammatory disease of the arteries.
A fairly rare disease, in which a small bump is formed on the temple, hurts when pressed and pulsates. It occurs most often in people over fifty years old. The appearance of arteritis in young people is possible in isolated cases only in the presence of a genetic predisposition.
Arteritis is treated by a neuropathologist, surgeon, therapist. In parallel, the patient may suffer from migraines, a sensation of fluid accumulation in the brain, and jumps in blood pressure.
Hangover and withdrawal symptoms
The morning after a stormy party brings not only a headache and nausea, but also a serious load on the arteries and blood vessels. The body is struggling with the consequences of serious ethanol intoxication. Due to inhibition of vascular wall tone, people often complain that it hurts around the temple when pressed. Depending on the individual characteristics of a sick person, the pain may be deployed in the neck or forehead. In some cases, the left temple hurts when pressed, and the right one does not.
In this case, the only treatment is to try to remove toxic products from the body as soon as possible. To do this, you can use "Enterosgel", preparations with activated carbon in the composition. After severe intoxication, it is necessary to drink a course of vitamins with magnesium, selenium, iodine.
Often these patients complain: "I click on the temple - it hurts." Often they exaggerate the magnitude of the problem. If the pain in the back of the head and temple occurs after alcohol abuse, do not run to the doctor and look for serious pathologies. It is simply enough to once and for all exclude ethanol-containing drinks from the diet.
Which doctor should I go to if the temple hurts when pressed?
First you need to take a ticket to a therapist. He will prescribe the standard necessary studies - a biochemical blood test, a general urine test. After receiving the results, the overall clinical picture will clear up. If leukocytes are elevated, then the cause of pain in the temple is most likely caused by inflammatory processes in the sinuses, lymph nodes, and nasopharynx. This condition is easily amenable to therapy.
If the tests are normal - the therapist will give a coupon for consultation with the endocrinologist and neuropathologist. For patients who are unpleasant to be in a state clinic and do not have time to wait in turn, there are paid diagnostic centers. There you can directly sign up directly to the endocrinologist, surgeon and neuropathologist. In this case, analyzes and procedures will also be paid.
How is the diagnosis and possible treatment
To find out the exact reason why it hurts over the temple when pressed, you will have to go through a series of studies. If the patient goes to the clinic at the place of residence, then they are obliged to provide all the procedures for free (the insurance company in which the sick person is registered in the hospital will pay for everything). As mentioned above, if the patient does not have time to wait for a coupon at state medical institutions, he can go to private diagnostic centers and undergo diagnostics for a fee.
To diagnose the severity of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, MRI and CT are prescribed. After ascertaining the stage, the neuropathologist prescribes treatment. It can be both ordinary vitamin-mineral complexes, physiotherapy and exercise therapy, as well as serious prescription anesthetics. It all depends on how far the pathological condition has gone.
For the diagnosis of vegetovascular dystonia, a neuropathologist only needs to compare a number of symptoms. There is no study that could help pinpoint this disease. In some cases, it makes sense to undergo an MRI of the brain vessels. The cost of such a study is about seven thousand rubles in paid diagnostic centers. An MRI of the cerebral vessels is informative, it will help to establish an accurate diagnosis not only with VVD, but also with organic brain disorders, intracranial pressure, encephalopathy.
Preventative measures. How to avoid relapse of pain in the temple with pressure
Below are some simple tips, with which you can forever forget about acute migraine attacks and pain in the temporal region during palpation.
Stop smoking. The ingress of nicotine and tar into the body has a killer effect on the vessels of the brain, causing their spasm. That is why novice smokers often feel dizzy and headache, darkens in the eyes. As you get used to cigarettes, a clear malaise disappears, but the negative effect on the vessels remains. Many heavy smokers suffer from chronic migraine attacks.
Include proteins, fats, and carbohydrates in your daily diet. With a deficiency of carbohydrate food and glucose, the brain suffers, cognitive processes are impaired, memory worsens. Also, malnutrition often contributes (if there is a predisposition to these diseases) to the development of encephalopathy, dementia, palimpsests.
If the patient wants to do powerlifting or weightlifting, this should be done under the supervision of an experienced trainer. The improper position of the rod on the shoulders often pinches the arteries, contributes to the development of diseases of the spine. Many athletes put the bar on their neck - this is unacceptable! This is a direct path to osteochondrosis, injuries, circulatory disorders. This inevitably leads to headache, pulsation in the temples, pain when pressed in the occipital and temporal areas.
Doctors recommend swimming. It has a beneficial effect on the spine and nervous system. If migraine and pain in the temples when pressed for a long time torment the patient, then it is worth doing swimming in an amateur style on a regular basis.
It is very important to avoid a deficiency of B vitamins. These substances have a positive effect on the nervous system during vegetative-vascular dystonia, osteochondrosis, and scoliosis. A ten-day course with the Milgamma or Neuromultivit preparation is enough to forget about the pain in the temples when pressed for years. The final result of treatment largely depends on the correct diagnosis and severity of the disease.
Often, patients with cooler are among the prescribed physiotherapeutic procedures and exercise therapy. Such an attitude is unacceptable. A ten-day course of magnetotherapy has a beneficial effect on intracranial pressure, circulatory problems, osteochondrosis of the cervical and thoracic spine. If a neuropathologist has prescribed these procedures, in no case should they be neglected. Several courses of magnetotherapy will help to forget about the pain in the temples when pressure is applied for long months, and maybe for years.