There are a large number of factors that cause a headache in the back of the head and not only. Some people who feel pain, immediately consult a doctor. But there are others who wait time, hoping that the discomfort will disappear on its own. Yes, this also happens, but sometimes the pain returns again, and the discomfort is felt even more.
Causes of the disease
Among the causes of a headache in the back of the head, doctors distinguish the following as the most common:
- The presence of diseases of the cervical spine. In this case, the pain is prolonged. They intensify with a sharp movement of the head.
- Muscle tightening of the neck. Most often this is facilitated by prolonged exposure to a draft, uncomfortable posture, nervous strain, and incorrect posture. In addition to a headache in the neck, there is a tingling sensation in the muscles of the neck, sometimes dizziness, noise in the head.
- Occipital neuralgia. The pain is unbearable, paroxysmal. Strengthens with sneezing, coughing, sudden head movement. There may be a violation of orientation in space, pulsation in the temples.
- Injuries to the head or cervical spine.
- Pathology of the cervical spine.
- Arterial hypertension. Most often, the pain appears in the morning.
Cervical osteochondrosis and spondylosis
Osteochondrosis can be called the most common disease and one of the main causes of headaches in the back of the head. That's why we will talk about this ailment in more detail.
The pain syndrome accompanying this pathology is permanent. In addition to the back of the head, pain appears in the temporal region and neck. It becomes stronger when the head is tilted.
With vertebrobasilar syndrome, along with headaches in the back of the head, there is tinnitus, hearing loss, vomiting, nausea, and lack of coordination of movement. Sometimes the patient has double vision, a veil, fog, dizziness.
Often this disease is accompanied by cervical migraine. The pain appears suddenly on the left side of the back of the head and passes into the superciliary and temporal region.
In cervical spondylosis, the connective tissue of the vertebral ligaments degenerates into bone. Bone growths appear on the vertebrae. For this reason, neck mobility worsens, stiffness appears when turning the head. The pains in the back of the head are constant, spreading to the eyes and ears. They amplify during head tilts. Another symptom of this disease is sleep disturbance.
A little more about the reasons
The following diseases can be attributed to the causes of headache in the back of the head:
- Migraine. The pain is felt constantly. She is excruciating, sharp and lasts for several days. Its etiology is not yet fully understood. The factors causing it are lack of sleep, overwork, smoking, stress.
- Migraine neck. The reason for its appearance is vasospasm. It arises unexpectedly, almost does not respond to pain medications. If you do not consult a doctor in time, tissue death may occur due to oxygen deficiency in the brain.
- Neoplasms are another cause of a headache in the neck. Their development may be accompanied by nausea. Discomfort in the back of the head is the result of the pressure of the neoplasm on healthy tissues.
- Stress. This reason is the most common. The risk group most often includes women over the age of 35. If a person does not get out of a stressful state, constant pain sensations appear.
If a headache in the back of the head is associated with a disease, you should immediately consult a doctor. Do not wait for something. Good all will not end. It is necessary to undergo an examination, find out the cause and begin treatment.
Now let's talk about the varieties of pain.
Temple pain
The named symptom passing to the back of the head is one of the varieties of headache in the back of the head. This symptom does not always indicate a serious problem. The causes of discomfort include:
- migraine;
- stress;
- changes in blood pressure (increase or decrease);
- pregnancy;
- infections
- drinking a lot of alcohol.
With such pain, it is important to notice exactly when it appears. If this happened when the weather changed, after a stressful situation or a holiday, then do not worry. In this case, an analgesic should help. It should be worried when pain often appears, and they are strong. Here you can already talk about hypertensive crisis, meningitis or stroke. Without losing time, go to the doctor - this is the right decision.
You can get rid of pain without drugs only in a calm environment. Lie down, massage your neck, whiskey. Open the window and let fresh air into the house. The pain should go away.
One-sided pain
Unilateral headache in the back of the head may appear on the right or left. The reasons for its appearance include:
- uncomfortable posture during sleep;
- long work at the computer;
- draft action.
If pain is tormented for more than two days, it is most likely neuritis. The cause of the ailment is a long work at the computer or hypothermia.
Pain occurs in seizures. They are similar to sagging muscles - this is a vertebral artery syndrome (right or left). A severe headache in the back of the head on the right or on the left can indicate irritation of the nervous sympathetic ganglia. In order to get rid of the problem, you should visit a doctor: a therapist or a neurologist.
Throbbing pain
Talk about a throbbing headache in the back of the head. This symptom, if it is permanent, is a sign of a serious illness. So, if discomfort is accompanied by pain in the temples, we can say that a person has problems with the vessels (pinching, expansion, cramping).
Sometimes infectious diseases are accompanied by neurological complications. In this case, the throbbing pain passes into the ear and lower jaw. And cervical osteochondrosis, in addition to discomfort in the back of the head, is accompanied by nausea, impaired coordination of movement, and flies in the eyes.
Severe headache in the back of the head and nausea after waking up, fog before the eyes and dizziness say that most likely the person has vegetovascular dystonia.
In addition to the above, this symptom may indicate overwork, changes in weather conditions, excessive physical exertion.
Discomfort accompanied by nausea
Headache in the neck and nausea are symptoms of high blood pressure, concussion, osteochondrosis. Only by the nature of the pain can you determine the disease:
- High blood pressure - bursting pain, aggravated by light and loud sounds. Most often, these symptoms appear in the morning.
- Osteochondrosis is a constant pain accompanied by visual impairment, weakness, dizziness, and tinnitus.
- Concussion - in addition to throbbing pain with nausea, a person intensifies perspiration, quickens breathing and sleep is disturbed.
For the prevention of diseases, you should more often be in the fresh air, try to avoid stressful situations, move more.
Mixed pain
Often there is a situation where a severe headache in the back of the head covers another part of the head. So, if it goes to the back of the head and eyes, then most often it is a symptom of migraine, meningitis, or high blood pressure. Dizziness, sleep disturbance, loss of coordination, nausea are added to these signs. Unpleasant feelings cause a bright light. Urgently consult a specialist.
If the back of the head and ear hurt, it is important to make the correct diagnosis:
- Throbbing pain during an attack, and in the rest of the period, aching or pressing in the occipital part and passing to the left ear, speaks of the inflammatory process, hypothermia, colds, osteochondrosis.
- Frequent headaches in the back of the head and stuffiness in the ears indicate high blood pressure. A calm environment, the use of drugs from high blood pressure will help get rid of the disease.
- Overstrain, drafts, otitis media can also cause headaches in the back of the head and ears.
Physical stress, high blood pressure are accompanied by pain in the neck and forehead. These symptoms can also be added to weakness, nausea, and dizziness.
As with other ailments, and with headaches in the back of the head, causes and treatment are interconnected. Only after determining the cause of the disease, you can correctly prescribe treatment.
Let's talk about children
Not only adults, but also children suffer from pain in the back of the head. Most often, the factor causing it is a viral disease. The vessels begin to become inflamed, and the pain spreads throughout the back of the child’s head. In this case, give the baby painkillers and herbal tea soothing effect.
Discomfort may also indicate intracranial pressure. Be sure to visit a specialist if the pain in the back of the head is not a symptom of a viral disease.
Another reason for the appearance of pain in the occipital region is being in the same position for a long time. Schoolchildren sit at computers and textbooks a lot. Muscles become numb - this causes discomfort. Therefore, during the educational process, physical education should be done. If the child is engaged at home, it is advisable that he gets up from the table every hour and walks a bit.
Diagnostics
It should immediately be said that when a headache occurs in the back of the head, you should not hesitate. Urgently visit a specialist. The appearance of this symptom indicates that pathological processes occur in the body. It is not worth it to get rid of the disease yourself, so you can only aggravate the cause of its occurrence.
Before prescribing treatment for a headache in the back of the head, the doctor will conduct a series of examinations. First, during a conversation with the patient, he will specify the nature of the pain, how often they appear and what is their duration, what symptoms accompany them.
The next step is consultation with a neurologist, otolaryngologist, dentist, optometrist. Sometimes this is enough. If it is impossible to make a diagnosis, then the following measures are carried out:
- Electroencephalography. Thanks to this procedure, the state of the brain is determined.
- X-ray - determines the presence of injuries, sinusitis, hydrocephalus.
- Magnetic resonance imaging - determines the presence of a tumor, cerebrovascular accident, the effects of stroke and other diseases.
- Computed tomography - demonstrates a change in the structure of the brain and cerebral vessels, the presence of hemorrhages. Also, this procedure shows the presence of cysts, aneurysms, atherosclerosis, thrombosis.
- Electromyography - diagnoses diseases of the neuromuscular system, nerve damage.
- Ultrasound - reveals a variety of problems with the vessels.
First aid
How can I help myself with a headache in the back of my head? The first thing to do is to create a calm environment and go to bed, while the head should be slightly raised. Provide fresh air access to the room and remove irritants (these include loud noises, bright light). If the pain is not intense, then you can take painkillers.
The pressure should be measured. If it is above the norm, put ice to the back of the head, and a hot heating pad to your feet.
When the cause of the disease is overexertion, you should drink a sedative, make a light massage of the back of the head.
With cervical osteochondrosis, tilting the head and circular movements will help.
If the condition does not improve, call an ambulance. As mentioned above, self-medication is life threatening. Even traditional medicine should be used as prescribed by the doctor, not to mention pills.
The main methods of treatment
Which method to choose, the doctor decides:
- Drug treatment. The patient is prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs. They can be in tablets or injections, have an analgesic effect. Sometimes you can get by with just this treatment, but there are times when you can’t cope with the problem without medical blockades and hormonal drugs.
- Manual therapy. This method helps with migraines and is an additional way to get rid of the disease.
- Massage. This method can also be discussed as an additional one. It is part of a comprehensive treatment. Usually this method is prescribed after injuries, with migraines, etc.
- Physiotherapy. This method is used most often. Apply ultrasound, magnetic field, heat, direct or alternating current.
- Acupuncture. It is a complement to manual therapy and activates the work of organs. The patient can feel relief after two sessions.
- Osteopathy. The work is carried out with changes in the muscles, organs, joints. This method is prescribed in combination with other methods.
- Physiotherapy. Small loads help cope with pain. They are selected and calculated by a specialist.
- Extracorporeal hemocorrection. Helps to get rid of cerebral arteriosclerosis. Blood is cleansed of excess cholesterol and other harmful substances.
- Folk remedies. You should be careful with this method. The effectiveness of traditional medicine is not always confirmed. Before using this method, you should consult your doctor.
Prevention
In order not to suffer from headaches, try to adhere to the following rules:
- Sleep should be at least eight hours, and sleep better on an orthopedic pillow.
- Visit a specialist periodically and check your posture.
- The cause of frequent headaches can be overweight, so you need to adhere to proper nutrition.
- Give up bad habits.
- Walk more, fresh air works wonders.
- Try to relax more often.
And also, be sure to visit a doctor, only he can help you.