Almost every person on earth has ever experienced a headache. And the pain in the temple on the left 70% of people who contact specialists with such symptoms complain. But we can say with confidence that this statistic does not reflect the fullness of the picture, and does not reveal the severity of the problem, since not everyone goes to the hospital with severe pain in the temporal lobe. So what are these symptoms dangerous for, what is the reason for their appearance, what are the consequences? What needs to be done to get rid of this ailment?
Types of temple pain
The pain in the temple on the left is divided into two types. The first is when its symptoms fully reflect the clinical picture of the disease. This type is called primary, it is not associated with structural changes in the brain, but signals the presence of a disease. Usually these are manifestations of migraine, bundle pain and tension pain.
The secondary type refers to the signs of another disease.
During the examination of the patient, carefully collected information on the degree of intensity, frequency of occurrence, development dynamics, types of temporal cephalgia is of particular importance. Based on these data, you can almost immediately determine the degree of danger. For example, its sudden appearance is a signal that the patient’s health and life are in danger. If the pain appears periodically, then usually it is chronic.
Temple pain
Why does the left temple hurt, what causes it? Experts call more than 40 diseases in which pain is localized in the temporal region. Here are just a few of them:
1. Migraine is an independent disease characterized by very noticeable pain in one part of the head, concentrated in the temporal region. The duration of such attacks is from half an hour to several days, and if the migraine is not treated, then everything can end with a migraine stroke. In some women, it passes after the birth of a child, while others suffer from it, up to menopause.
2. Pain of tension is a widespread disease. A hard working day, physical activity, uncomfortable static posture, stress, depression, scoliosis of the spine - these are the causes of HDN. The muscle tone of the shoulders, neck, face rises and worsens the blood supply to the muscles, the accumulation of histamines that accompany inflammation. The muscles ache, and the pain is projected onto the head in the temporal part, presses in the temples, the head is as if squeezed by a hoop.
3. Beam pains are characterized by intolerable pain attacks, concentrated in the temples. They can begin unexpectedly and last from 15 minutes to several hours, calming down and returning again. Paroxysmal attacks torment a person up to 8 times a day. A series of pains sometimes do not remind of themselves for a long time, but it happens that every month the patient suffers from attacks. At such a moment, a person is covered with sweat, his nose is blocking, his face is swelling, his eyelid is dropping.
4. Severe pain in the temples can be a symptom of a rare disease of the arteries. With inflammation of the walls of the vessels of the temporal arteries, severe pain radiating to the eye is felt, and even a light touch gives the patient suffering. Older people are more likely to get sick after 50 years.
5. In case of intracranial lesions of an infectious nature (meningitis, encephalitis), there is an acute pain that radiates to the temple.
6. With inflammation of the trigeminal nerve and its compression, severe pain occurs in the temples and the back of the head when chewing, swallowing, talking, laughing.
Causes of pain
The reasons when the left temple hurts are many, and in order to get rid of the painful feeling, we must determine and eliminate its source:
- In young people, such pain can be an indicator of vegetovascular dystonia.
- Some infectious diseases are accompanied by rather severe headaches in the temples (ARVI and flu).
- Upper and lower pressure manifests itself as an active pulsation in the temples.
- During hormonal surges, young girls may show severe pain.
- Also, with changes in the hormonal background with the onset of menopause, women sometimes complain of regular head temporal pains.
- There are also nervous headaches that are psychogenic in nature. They are accompanied by irritability, fatigue.
- Violation of the activity of nerves of the brain and spinal cord.
- With pathology of the temporomandibular joint, the pain gives not only to the temple, but also to the back of the head and shoulders. From convulsive clenching of the teeth, the muscles of the face become very tight, and they provoke a headache.
- Weather dependent people also have a pain in their left temple.
- Some products containing monosodium glutamate can cause headaches. These are canned goods, dry soups, sausages, smoked meats, ready-made salads, chips, sauces, hot dogs. Chocolate is sometimes a provocateur of a headache, because it causes a sharp increase in blood sugar.
- Intoxications associated with food poisoning, drugs, alcohol, diseases of the organs responsible for the removal of toxic substances from the body (kidneys, liver).
- Sometimes pain gives to the temple in completely healthy people and does not depend on the state of the vessels. Backache in the temples appears from carbon monoxide poisoning. Its high concentration in the air is dangerous for human life, therefore, the removal of its toxins from the body must be carried out in a medical institution. Sometimes if a person did not have breakfast, and did not have time to have a bite at lunch, he may experience pain in the temporal lobe. It also happens when some people overdo it with diets, not considering their balance, or during hard fasting. The brain lacks nutrients, and it lets you know about this spasm of blood vessels.
- The same symptoms can appear with developing anemia.
- Climbers can also tell about pain in the temples, because high air in the mountains is rarefied and there is not enough oxygen in it. People experience the same feelings during regular flights and scuba divers, this is the reaction of blood vessels to pressure drops.
- Too active sex life can also cause pain in the temples.
- It happens that the origin of the pain can not be established, and this is not surprising, because even the presence of worms and a sharp cessation of coffee can cause their appearance.
Types of temporal pain
When the head is unbearably sore, it seems that the pain comes out through the temple from the brain, but in fact it is not. Pain receptors are absent in it, and they are located in some parts of the membrane of the brain, tissues covering the skull, in the arteries of the base of the skull and located outside it. This complex is responsible for various types of temporal pain, depending on where the damaging effect is located. Therefore, the pain is pulsating, lightning fast or constant, sharp, dull, pressing, tingling, burning, of different depths and localizations.
The pain pulsates in the temples, as if small hammers are knocking in them, preventing them from being distracted. Most likely, these are the consequences of the stress. However, this may also indicate that the upper and lower blood pressure has increased, about the onset of migraine, spasms of the vessels of the brain. At times with pulpitis (inflammation of the gum tissue) the pain is reflected in the temporal region.
Sharp pain in the temples, shooting, can talk about inflammation of the trigeminal nerve, less often about changes in the walls of the temporal arteries (temporal arteritis). In this case, a person feels overwhelmed throughout his body, impotence, he sleeps poorly. Sometimes the pain goes to the back of the head, eyes, jaw, and the whole face. The painful manifestations are vivid, and even a light touch causes a strong discomfort.
With increased irritability, a sense of anxiety, rapid fatigue, a pain of a psychogenic nature occurs. It is dimly expressed, as if spilled over the temple, in this place it constantly aches, and this is even more annoying. But sometimes such pain is also characteristic of problems with intracranial pressure, therefore, with these types of pain it can not be allowed to drift.
The effects of a traumatic brain injury, or previous stress, cause suffering from dull pain in the temples. If she pursues a person for several days, and almost every morning he wakes up with her, then she is classified as psychogenic or nonspecific.
Presses in the temples often enough in the presence of cervical osteochondrosis of the spine. There is a violation of the normal blood supply to the vessels of the brain due to the compression of one or both vertebral arteries. As a result, there are changes in the vessels, disturbances in the nerve plexuses and, as a result, localized pains.
Throbbing pain in the temples may indicate the fact of atherosclerotic changes and the threat of stroke.
Drug treatment of pain
To relieve a headache in the temples, treatment is usually carried out with analgesics and non-steroidal painkillers. After their adoption, the pain impulse is blocked, and the body decreases the production of hormone-like biological regulators that stimulate the synthesis of prostaglandins. Well-known and affordable medicines that are in any first-aid kit are Aspirin, Pentalgin, Codeine, Ibuprofen, Paracetamol.
What helps the last drug? It affects the brain and thermoregulatory centers. This medicine has analgesic properties and a slight anti-inflammatory effect. It will not cope with severe pain, but its moderate and weak manifestations are quite within its power. The result from the use of the drug in the form of tablets occurs 30 minutes after administration, and if you drink its syrup or suspension, its effect will be noticeable after 15 minutes. But we must not forget that although this medicine is considered the least toxic, its uncontrolled intake is unacceptable. It tends to accumulate in the body, and in this case its effect increases significantly. It is very dangerous for the body. Paracetamol is contraindicated for people with sick kidneys, liver, blood diseases and alcohol addiction.
What helps "Acetylsalicylic acid" ("Aspirin")? As an anesthetic, people around the world use it. The tablet is drunk immediately after eating in 3 divided doses per day. A reasonable dose of 1 g, max. 3 g per day, is contraindicated for people suffering from bronchial asthma, pregnant women, with stomach ulcers, vitamin K deficiency, and children under 3 years old.
When migraines are often used, "Citramon". This affordable medicine helps after 20 minutes after swallowing the pill. The effect is achieved by the presence of caffeine, acetylsalicylic acid and paracetamol in its composition. The medicine tones the blood vessels of the brain. You can take no more than 6 tablets per day, dividing them into 3 doses, but this is only in extreme cases. You should not get carried away with this medicine: it can harm the stomach, liver, and cause allergies.
In case of unbearable pain, it is better to use more serious medications. The most powerful painkillers are Tempalgin, Solpadein, and Nurofen.
Tempalgin is a combination drug. It contains analgin and tempidone. Spasmolytic properties are also added. You can take no more than 3 tablets per day.
Solpadenine is based on paracetamol, caffeine and codeine. It can be used up to 4 times a day for 1 capsule.
Pentalgin contains 5 components: analgin, codeine, amidopyrine, caffeine, phenobarbital. The people call it that - “five”.
In moments of unbearable pain, when it is strongly knocking at the temples, it is recommended to drink ibuprofen-based drugs. They well stop severe pain, relieve nausea, vomiting, anxiety, photophobia. Their side effects are not so pronounced as that of Analgin, and a single use does not harm. But if there are diseases of the liver, stomach, and duodenum, then this medicine should be used with caution.
It is permissible to drink analgesics per month for no more than 15 days, and if the drugs include a combination of several components, then 10 days for such drugs is the limit. They can be addictive, and some of them are addictive. Accumulating in the body, they negatively affect the internal organs, the hematopoiesis system.
Physiotherapy
With manifestations of cephalgia in the temporal region, physiotherapeutic treatment has proven itself positively. For pain caused by overwork, stress, psycho-emotional overstrain, and fatigue, mud wraps, water treatments, and massage help well. For problem vessels, ozone and magnetotherapy, ultrasound and pulsed currents are prescribed. With osteochondrosis of the neck, drugs are prescribed that penetrate the skin by electrophoresis.
When to see a doctor immediately
If the head hurts with constant regularity, then the first thing to do is to go to the doctor, and not to make a diagnosis on your own and not to take the medicine that your friends recommended. But there are special cases when delaying the visit to a specialist can significantly worsen the condition, and sometimes cost the patient’s life:
- unusual, uncharacteristic pains appear in the temple;
- if the pain continues continuously for more than 3 days, and the most powerful painkillers do not help;
- it seems that a small grenade exploded in the temple and sudden pain is accompanied by impaired vision, speech, coordination of movements, general weakness;
- from attack to attack, the throbbing pain in the temples manifests itself brighter, gradually intensifying;
- pain accompanied by vomiting;
- pain is aggravated during physical work or playing sports;
- with an increase in temperature and aching in the neck, inability to turn or tilt the head;
- the upper and lower pressure increases excessively.
After asking the patient about the types and frequency of pain, the doctor can prescribe an additional examination:
- need a general and detailed blood test;
- MRI of the brain;
- electroencephalography of the vessels of the neck and head;
- lipid profile;
- consultation of an ophthalmologist, general practitioner, psychiatrist, neurosurgeon, angiosurgeon.
Of course, such examinations are not cheap, but our health is priceless, so the savings in this case are inappropriate.
The consequences of pain in the temples
Very often, a person does not pay attention to periodically occurring pain in the temple area and tries to get rid of it on his own. Setting the dosage without taking into account side effects and contraindications, he uncontrollably drowns it with analgesics. Of course, these drugs temporarily eliminate the symptoms, but do not eliminate the cause of their occurrence. Gradually, the disease progresses, and the result of such inattention to oneself can be disastrous.
The nerve endings of the temporal lobes are directly associated with the organs of hearing and vision, and if the cause of pain in them, then, as a result, there may be a constant ringing in the ears, deafness or blindness.
And even if the origin of the pain is not in dangerous diseases, frequent pain adversely affects the quality of life. Their manifestations spoil the mood, irritability appears, performance decreases. Outbreaks of aggression may appear, a person seeks solitude, closes in himself. Therefore, going to the clinic and professional advice will help cure the disease and save the patient from a debilitating ailment.
Folk remedies
If the pain in the temple on the left is mild, caused by stress or nervous excitement, then simple folk methods aimed at relaxing and achieving calm can also help to eliminate painful sensations.
You can relax in a warm bath prepared with essential oils of lemon, grapefruit, chamomile, juniper, lavender. With a few drops of St. John's wort and rosemary oil, you can dilute the massage cream and massage in the area of the seventh vertebra.
An effective remedy is massage of the entire head. In circular movements, starting from the neck, one should massage the head, gradually reaching the temples. The duration of this procedure is about 15 minutes, this is enough to improve blood circulation and relieve stress. The same effect can be achieved by slowly combing the hair. It is necessary to spend at least 100 times with a comb made of natural material.
Another type of massage also helps to reduce pain, but the points located in the hollows of the temporal region are massaged. The procedure is carried out with the pads of the index fingers, while a slight pressure is made in a circular motion. Manipulations are best done in a quiet, darkened room. After them, you need to lie down for at least half an hour and try to sleep. Rest well stops the attack, and, waking up, a person forgets about it.
Among herbs, infusions of lemon balm, oregano, peppermint are popular. The recipe for their preparation is the same and simple enough. You need to take a tablespoon of any of the named herbs, put in a glass and pour boiling water. Insist closed 30 minutes and strain. Drink oregano and mint 3 times a day for half a glass, and stretch the lemon balm for the whole day, drinking in a throat.
Very good relaxing green tea with a slice of lemon and a spoonful of honey. You can brew it with a pinch of mint or lemon balm.
On a aching temple, you can put a napkin moistened with a solution of apple cider vinegar. It will be enough to dilute one tablespoon of vinegar in a liter of water. If there is no reaction to smells, then a compress with a towel moistened with cool water with essential oils will bring relief.
Prevention
In order for the pain in the temple on the left side not to return again, it is necessary to adhere to the daily regimen, sleep for at least 8 hours, do not overwork, spend more time outdoors, actively move, taking into account age and physical condition, eat rationally.
It is necessary to have breakfast, healthy foods should be present in the diet: cereal cereals, boiled meat and fish, kefir, cottage cheese, bread with cereal additives, natural fruit juices. In favor of health, you need to abandon spices, spicy and overcooked dishes, reduce the consumption of salt and sugar.
Smoking and alcohol are provocateurs of various diseases, high blood pressure, spasm of the brain vessels . They also affect the hormonal background, especially in women, so their presence in human life must be completely eliminated.
Morning exercises, physiotherapy exercises, sports - all this helps to improve health, raises the quality of life to a new level, improves mood. If you adhere to the basics of a healthy and proper lifestyle, then you can minimize the possibility of headaches.