Why does the back of the head hurt and feel sick? This is of interest to so many people, since such a condition is quite common. Many patients describe soreness as bursting and oppressive. It can be acute or chronic, accompanied by pulsation, burning and numbness. Someone encounters such signs only occasionally, while others suffer from this problem for a long time.
Many people try to get rid of pain with painkillers, but it is strictly forbidden to do this, since such symptoms can indicate the occurrence of dangerous pathologies.
Main reasons
If the back of the head hurts and is sick, then this symptomatology can occur for completely natural reasons, with the course of diseases, as well as with excessive overstrain. It is strictly forbidden to resort to self-treatment, as this can cause dangerous complications. If the first signs of pathology occur, you need to visit a doctor for a comprehensive diagnosis and treatment.
More rare causes of soreness include malocclusion, subarachnoid hemorrhage. The pain while aching, prevents a person from living normally. Even if a person is in a calm state, the symptoms remain, and any movement only enhances the painful manifestations.
Surge protection
If the back of the head hurts and is sick, then this may be a sign of overstrain, which occurs due to heavy physical exertion and too intense exercise. In this case, there are signs such as:
- headache;
- flies before the eyes;
- aches in the joints.
When overstressed, muscle spasms occur, which can also be a source of pain. A headache from tension occurs if a person is in an uncomfortable position for a long time, for example, when working at a computer.
Soreness intensifies mainly in the evening, and relief is observed after performing a head massage. To relieve pain, medications that normalize blood circulation, analgesics are also used, physiotherapy courses are conducted.
Organic causes of discomfort
If the back of the head hurts and is sick, then this may be a sign of organic damage to the brain. In the event that an increase in temperature joins this symptomatology, that is, a suspicion of meningitis. With the course of this disease, skin rashes, photophobia, convulsions are observed. Meningitis can be fatal if you do not seek medical attention in a timely manner.
In the presence of neoplasms, headache mainly occurs in the morning and is additionally accompanied by nausea and vomiting. The localization of painful sensations mainly corresponds to the location of the tumor in the brain tissues.
If the head hurts in the back of the head and is sick, then this may be a sign of traumatic brain injury. It is dangerous in that it can provoke the appearance of hematomas that crush the brain. This can provoke his swelling and even lead to the death of the patient. That is why immediately after receiving even a minor injury, you need to visit a traumatologist.
Pain due to a certain illness
If the back of the head hurts and is sick, then this condition can be triggered by various diseases, in particular such as:
- cervical osteochondrosis;
- myositis;
- hypertension
- myogelosis;
- neuralgia;
- vascular pathology.
If the back of the head hurts and is sick, then this can be triggered by the occurrence of cervical osteochondrosis. This is a fairly common disease that occurs after 40 years, and also among those who sit in front of a computer for a long time.
Soreness in this case occurs due to squeezing of nerve endings. When pinching, the pain is shooting, sharp and may be accompanied by slight numbness of the neck and arms.
In addition to nerve endings, vertebral arteries can be pinched. With their spasm, paroxysmal or persistent pains are observed. They are accompanied by dizziness, especially when changing the position of the body and head.
The back of the head hurts and makes you sick with arterial hypertension. An increase in pressure occurs due to organic changes in the vessels or when exposed to certain external factors. Such a condition may not manifest itself by any signs and comes to light quite by accident. However, often arterial hypertension manifests itself in the form of a pressing, bursting pain in the back of the head, which occurs in the morning, and there is also a rapid heartbeat and dizziness.
In some cases, the head hurts in the neck and is sick with a hypertensive attack. In the morning, the symptoms are most pronounced. The general state of health at the same time worsens, the heart rate quickens, and weakness appears. Common symptoms include dizziness and heaviness in the head. She feels somewhat better after sudden vomiting.
Cervical myositis involves inflammation of the muscles of the cervical spine. This disease occurs quite often, and trauma or prolonged stay in an uncomfortable position can provoke the development of pathology. Sudden head movements provoke a significant increase in pain.
Myogelosis is characterized by the fact that muscle circulation is disturbed in the cervical spine. This leads to the appearance of seals, which provoke pain in the occipital region. Severe dizziness is also noted.
Neuralgia is associated with severe hypothermia. Often the pain is simply impossible to endure. Her character is burning, shooting. Paroxysmal pain gradually pass into the cervical region, affecting the ears. Discomfort in the lower jaw is also felt.
Arteries are localized inside the skull on its surface. With their spasm, a pulsating pain is felt, which gradually passes from the occipital region to the forehead. In a calm state, it is almost not noticeable, however, it is noticeably enhanced under stress.
Other reasons
The back of the head hurts, is sick and dizzy with subarachnoid hemorrhages. This happens as a result of rupture of the aneurysm of the cerebral vessels, with traumatic brain injury. A similar condition manifests itself with a sharp, throbbing headache, nausea, impaired consciousness, an increase in muscles in the occipital region.
This is a kind of stroke, so this condition requires urgent hospitalization.
With pathologies of the jaw joint, the back of the head, whiskey and nausea also quite often hurt. Often soreness is one-sided. If the first signs of a violation appear, you should consult a doctor to diagnose and identify the root cause.
Diagnostics
If the nape is sore and nauseous, only the attending doctor can tell what to do. Therefore, diagnosis is of particular importance. First of all, the doctor conducts a conversation during which the patient talks about the symptoms that concern him. Of great importance is the localization, frequency of occurrence and nature of sensations.
In the presence of pronounced signs, which also mean photophobia, soreness in the back of the head, and vomiting, you need to contact a neurologist. For the examination, the use of such techniques as:
- radiography of the spine;
- electroencephalography;
- tomography;
- rheoencephalography.
If the nape of the head hurts and is sick, the reasons for this can be very different. That is why it is important to conduct timely diagnostics to determine them. Initially, the doctor prescribes a spinal X-ray, which helps to identify osteochondrosis and spondylosis. If the x-ray did not help to identify the disease, then spinal tomography is prescribed.
Electroencephalography and rheoencephalography are prescribed to determine the presence of cervical migraine and assess blood flow in the vessels of the brain. In addition, during the examination, you may need:
- examination and palpation of a painful area of the neck muscles;
- blood and urine tests;
- myotonometry.
Inspection and palpation of the affected area help determine myositis. In this case, the painful area will be swollen, hot, and redness of the skin is also observed.
Therapy Feature
If the nape of the head is very sore and nauseous, treatment should be prescribed only by a doctor after a diagnosis, since the causes of this condition can be very different. The appearance of any of these signs requires the attention of the therapist and narrow specialists. For the treatment, methods such as:
- massage;
- drug therapy;
- physiotherapy;
- manual therapy;
- physiotherapy.
The doctor selects medications separately for each patient, it all depends on the characteristics of the pathology. Mild rubbing will help reduce soreness. When an accurate diagnosis is made, the massage can give simply amazing results. To maintain good health, one course every 2 months is enough.
A good remedy in treatment is physiotherapy. The doctor should select all exercises separately for each patient. In this case, you need to try to make the inflamed muscles and ligaments as unloaded as possible.
Acupuncture helps to eliminate the signs of osteochondrosis, neuralgia. In addition, this technique helps to eliminate pain if it was triggered by stress. The point effect is directed directly at the painful area.
Drug treatment
When the back of the head is very sore and nauseous, treatment is necessarily carried out with the use of medications. Medicines must be prescribed by a specialist, depending on the diagnosis. If soreness is observed due to high blood pressure, then “Captopril”, “Hypothiazide”, “Cordipine” are prescribed.
For headaches that occur due to vascular pathology, it is necessary to take drugs such as Pyroxan, Sibelium, Redergin. A comprehensive approach is required, which helps to obtain the desired result. Antidepressants, as well as muscle relaxants, which help to eliminate muscle tension, are also prescribed from medications.
As painkillers, drugs based on paracetamol and acetylsalicylic acid are widely used. Anti-inflammatory drugs that also relieve inflammation will help eliminate soreness.
Folk remedies
If the neck, back of the head and nausea are sore, but this is not associated with serious pathologies and deviations, then treatment can be carried out using folk remedies. The main indications for such therapy are emotional overstrain, poisoning and other predisposing factors. As effective means you can apply:
- St. John's wort broth;
- peppermint tea;
- decoction of oregano;
- elderberry.
St. John's wort decoction helps to get rid of headache, nausea and dizziness. It also helps improve stress relief. It is not recommended to use this tool for men, since St. John's wort reduces the amount of male hormones. For a decoction you need 2 tbsp. l plants pour 1 tbsp. boiling water and leave for 20 minutes. Take 50 ml 3 times a day before consuming food.
From headache, a decoction of oregano is often used. To do this, 1 tbsp. l plants pour 1 liter of boiling water and cook for 10 minutes on low heat. Take the medicine 2 times a day. Decoction and infusion of oregano is forbidden to use during pregnancy, since this plant can provoke premature birth or abortion. Treatment with these agents should last 21 days.
Despite the fact that these funds are safe, you should consult your doctor before using them.
Physiotherapy and manual therapy
Sessions of physiotherapy, in particular, sessions of electrophoresis, ultrasound, magnetotherapy, show a very good result. They are prescribed after medical treatment for inflammation of the nerve endings, osteochondrosis, spondylosis, myogelosis, hypertension.
Physiotherapy exercises are effectively used to treat pain in the back of the head, which occurs in the event of a malfunction of the vertebral system caused by injuries or age-related deformation.
Acupuncture and manual therapy is recommended only after an accurate diagnosis and consultation with a doctor. If the pain is repeated constantly, you need to carry out complex therapy, change your usual lifestyle, give up bad habits, and also take time to relax.
Prophylaxis
In order to avoid the occurrence of pain in the back of the head and nausea, certain preventive measures must be taken. It is very important to abandon the consumption of alcohol and tobacco. If the cause of the pain is a sedentary lifestyle, then you need to organize your workplace so that it is as comfortable as possible.
It is best to sleep on an orthopedic pillow, which will help relax the muscles of the neck and head. You need to try to protect yourself from stress, worry less, normalize your mental state. This is reflected not only in mood, but also in physical well-being.
It is important to strengthen the immune system in order to prevent infection of the body by infections and viruses. For normal health, you need to eat right and undergo preventive examinations annually.