If a person has a headache and fever, then we can talk about the presence of a wide variety of diseases. Heat means that the body is actively fighting the disease. It includes body temperature above 37 degrees. It may rise due to heat stroke, and may be a sign of a serious illness. This article lists the most common causes.
Symptoms of fever
During the heat, a person can feel:
- Lethargy.
- Chills.
- Headache.
- Weakness.
- Loss of appetite.
- Dry lips.
- Sweating.
Causes of an infectious nature
Cold
The disease is similar in symptoms to the flu, but is additionally accompanied by a runny nose and cough. A person has a headache and a temperature of 37 degrees and above.
Meningitis
The disease manifests itself in damage to brain tissue. The cause of meningitis is infection. The main symptoms of the disease: high fever and a headache, giving in the back, neck and limbs, weakness, rarely - nausea and red rashes on the skin. If the listed symptoms are accompanied by confusion and impaired speech, you must immediately call an ambulance. Meningitis can lead to deafness or blindness if treatment is not started on time.
Leptospirosis
The cause of the disease is an infection. Under its influence, a person has a headache and a temperature of up to 39 degrees. Signs of the disease are nausea, lethargy, vomiting, a rush of blood to the face and neck, as well as cold sores on the lips. With leptospirosis, the liver and spleen increase. On the 3-4th day, the skin becomes yellowish with rashes.
Flu
With the disease, the headache and temperature lasts 2-3 days, and also drowsiness, weakness, depressed mood and pain in the joints and eyes appear. To get rid of the disease, you need to eliminate the virus. The incubation period of the disease is from ten hours to five days. Headache is felt in the forehead.
Encephalitis
Encephalitis affects the brain, developing an inflammatory process in it. The disease is expressed in the following symptoms: weakness and fever, headache in the frontal part, pressure changes that appear from the first days after infection. Gradually, nausea, vomiting and insomnia will join these signs, sometimes the coordination of movements is disturbed.
Sinusitis
A common disease lasts about 2-3 weeks. The disease occurs as a result of acute respiratory viral infections, a sign of which is swelling of the nasal mucosa. Symptoms of sinusitis: chills, runny nose, sneezing, headache, weakness, fever, nasal congestion, which is expressed in pressure on the eyes and ears, and nausea. A rash may appear on the patient's skin and irritation may appear in bright light and loud sounds.
Genitourinary infections
The joint appearance of a headache with an increased body temperature can be a consequence of polynephritis, prostatitis, cystitis and other similar diseases. Diseases are also accompanied by impaired urination, pain in the abdomen, discharge from the genitals. In the chronic form, the head hurts and the temperature is 37 degrees, with exacerbation - 38 degrees.
Noncommunicable diseases
Hypertension
The main sign of the disease is a bursting, throbbing headache, which is felt in the back of the head. Symptoms may appear in the morning with a feeling of heaviness in the frontal part and general weakness in the body, also the temperature is accompanied by dizziness and increased heart rate. If these symptoms appear, you should immediately consult a doctor and lower the pressure with a special drug.
Thermoneurosis
It is not a disease, but refers to the reaction of the body. The cause of this condition is a spasm in the vessels that are on the skin and lead to a violation of thermoregulation. Thermoneurosis is a condition of the body in which the head hurts and the temperature is up to 38 degrees. It appears after a disease or during stress, overwork and physical trauma. The condition is also characterized by rapid fatigue, headache, arrhythmia, pallor, lethargy, muscle pain. Thermoneurosis, unlike normal temperature, is not removed by aspirin.
Intoxication
The condition is characterized by malfunctions in the body under the influence of toxic substances that enter it. A person has a fever and a headache, nausea, muscle pain, diarrhea. Vomiting helps cleanse the body and improve the condition of the patient.
Acute surgical pathology
Elevated body temperature and headache can be the result of diseases such as appendicitis, bowel obstruction, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, abscess, thrombosis of the vessels of the legs, boils. Although the main symptoms are abdominal pain and signs of malfunctioning in the functioning of a particular organ, at the initial stage only subfebrile temperature and headache can be present.
Long time span
Fever and headache may last for several days. To establish the cause of this condition, you need to be examined in a hospital. Sometimes the listed symptoms may be the norm, but they mostly talk about the disease. These include such ailments.
Tumors
Often there is weakness, headache and temperature up to 38 degrees, loss of appetite, rapid weight loss, weakness. The listed symptoms can indicate the presence of leukemia, a tumor in various organs, vascular disorders in the vertebral-basilar arteries.
Tuberculosis
The most common cause of these symptoms. With tuberculosis, sweating also increases, body weight decreases, systematic coughing, the presence of bloody impurities in sputum are observed.
Chronic infection
These include diseases that do not provoke a strong response from the immune system - HIV, AIDS, rheumatic fever, chronic diseases of the ENT organs, toxoplasmosis and others.
High temperature: what to do?
Heat is the body's normal response to the disease, so it fights the virus. Do not rush to take antipyretic drugs as soon as the thermometer has shown thirty-eight degrees. For starters, you can drink hot tea with lemon and honey, and cover yourself with a warm blanket. But if such a method did not give a result and the fever continues to increase, then there is no way to do without drugs. High temperature negatively affects the work of the cardiovascular system.
It is important to remember that you can not take a lot of aspirin, since it affects the functioning of the kidneys. Doctors also recommend consuming a large amount of products containing salicylic acid during malaise. It is part of sea buckthorn, raspberry, prune jam, and is also found in the pulp of pineapple. To prevent dehydration, you need to drink plenty of water. You can use juices, tea, fruit drinks and other liquids. If sweat drops appear on the forehead, then this indicates a drop in temperature. In order for her not to return, the cause should be eliminated.
The heat can be removed by folk methods or drugs. For example, rub the body with vodka or cologne, then dress and cover with a blanket. A cold compress on the forehead or ice in the armpits, or rubbing with vinegar diluted with water, also helps. The room in which the patient is located should be regularly ventilated and wet cleaned. Drinks are given every fifteen to twenty minutes, several sips. Of the medical agents, mainly ibuprofen or paracetamol is used. Aspirin is prescribed with caution, since it impairs blood coagulation and can cause bleeding. The drug should not be used by people with gastrointestinal diseases - it irritates the mucous membrane and causes an exacerbation of the disease. After the fever has passed, you should consult a doctor who will prescribe further treatment.
What you need to know about headache medications?
The ailment is treated with ibuprofen or paracetamol-based drugs, as they are considered the safest. If a headache appeared due to high blood pressure, then analgesics will not work. Pain medications can not be combined with each other. The simultaneous use of several drugs does not increase effectiveness, but increases the likelihood of ulcerative lesions of the stomach and duodenum, as well as other negative consequences. You should not get involved in taking even over-the-counter painkillers - the maximum period for their intake should not exceed five days. With a frequent headache, you should consult a doctor.
You should not drink alcohol in conjunction with medications, since this combination leads to impaired functioning of the kidneys and liver. Drugs that contain phenobarbital and codeine should not be used by drivers. In the event of an emergency, these components can be regarded as drugs in the analysis of blood, which is taken in such cases.
Causes of Malaise in Children
If the child has a fever and a headache, parents need to identify the cause of the disease as soon as possible. Successful treatment directly depends on the correct diagnosis. The reasons can be, like an adult: colds, infections, poisoning. Also, this symptom may be the result of a fall, which often happens in childhood. Concussion may also be accompanied by vomiting and loss of consciousness. You need to talk with the baby and find out if he hit his head in recent times.
Sunstroke or overheating can occur not only in the hot season, but also in warm clothing, when in a stuffy room. In addition to the main symptoms, weakness, nausea and lethargy are added.
What to do if a child has a headache and fever?
First you need to identify the disease for the remaining symptoms, for this you should consult a pediatrician. Given the age of the child, they use folk or medicines to combat temperature. It is not recommended to bring down the heat to 38.5 degrees, especially during the flu or SARS. The body itself fights bacteria during this period. If the temperature exceeded the value of 38.5 degrees, then you need to use medicines containing ibuprofen or paracetamol, in parallel you can give pills for headaches. It is necessary to observe the dosage corresponding to the age and weight of the child.
If the child has a headache without fever
A baby's malaise may be associated with overwork or overheating, but if migraine often and dramatically occurs, it can be a symptom of a dangerous disease. Children often complain of headaches, they are in second place after abdominal pain. Meet with them as teenagers and kids. In infants, a headache manifests itself in the form of increased irritability, tearfulness, regurgitation of the fountain, as well as problems with falling asleep; a two-year-old child can talk about fatigue. According to statistics, up to 30% of boys and 40% of girls suffer from migraines.
In children, headaches are divided into two groups:
- Organic - arising due to volumetric or infectious processes in the head. These include: encephalitis, tumors, meningitis.
- Functional - appear due to a violation of the blood supply to the brain under the influence of diseases of internal organs, overwork or due to other factors irritating pain receptors in the vessels of the head.
Most often, the causes of headaches in children are migraines, infections of a general nature and the nervous system, less often they arise due to mental disorders, traumatic brain injuries, as well as neurosis. The main source of malaise is: stress, emotional overstrain, lack of sleep, physical overwork, unhealthy diet, and allergies. Children feel pressure from the inside of the skull, but at the same time they do not lose activity and performance, they do not have nausea and fever, the pain disappears after resting. But if the unpleasant sensations do not stop after the restoration of strength, you should contact a pediatrician or neurologist.
When is emergency assistance needed?
An ambulance is called if the following symptoms appear:
- The head and temperature are very sore, as well as nausea, cramps, loss of consciousness or a feeling of lethargy in the limbs.
- Temperature and pain occur after a fall or head injury, accompanied by otitis media or sinusitis.
- Nosebleeds appear.
- Pain in the morning, after rest or physical activity.
If the above symptoms are absent, you can not worry, give the child an analgesic “Nurofen”, “Paracetamol” in a dosage appropriate for the age and lay it. Do not give adult tablets (Paracetamol, Citramon, Analgin) to children under 12 years of age. Such drugs negatively affect the condition of the stomach and blood of the baby. To avoid the recurrence of symptoms, you need to reduce physical and mental stress and streamline your diet and sleep patterns. Proper distribution of the load during the day will help the baby avoid overwork.
So, the causes of fever and headache can be very diverse and therefore require a mandatory visit to the hospital. If symptoms occur in a child, it is important to find out about possible injuries that could provoke these signs. If a person has a headache and fever, then urgently need to bring her down. You can use both folk remedies and medications based on ibuprofen or paracetamol. In both cases, you need to consider the age and possible allergic reactions of the patient.