Headache from time to time visits each of us. In this case, we rarely pay attention to exactly where it hurts, and in a hurry to take an anesthetic. Sometimes we just endure, waiting for this torment to end.
It turns out in vain! With recurring headaches, you should go for a consultation with a specialist and find out why the right side of the head, left, back of the head or forehead hurts.
And if at the same time you are attentive to your feelings, you will understand which doctor you should contact: an ophthalmologist, a neurologist or an otorhinolaryngologist, you only need to understand the symptoms well.
How does migraine manifest
If the right side of the head often hurts, covering the eye and the temporal part, then, as a rule, this is a sign of migraine. Most often, the onset of an attack of such a headache is preceded by the flickering of black dots in front of the eyes, the appearance of flashes of light, and sometimes a deterioration in the coordination of movements. Violations from the sense of smell and hearing may also join this “bouquet”.
Because of what a similar problem occurs in some people (mind you, most often in women), it is currently unknown. It was only possible to precisely determine that if the mother had a predisposition to frequent headaches, then the daughter would also be very likely to suffer from the same problems. Another cause of migraine, the researchers called the imbalance of mediators (substances involved in the transmission of impulses between brain cells).
At the time of a migraine attack, as already mentioned, the head on the right side of the temple and around the eye most often hurts, a person may feel nauseous, he has the urge to vomit, and any sound or bright light intensifies the pain. Such a nightmare can last from several hours to several days, also causing problems with urination and stool.
How is migraine treated?
In modern medicine, alas, there are no funds that relieve true migraines. But with the right selection of drugs, as well as in compliance with the rules established by doctors, the patient manages to preempt seizures and significantly reduce their intensity.
If the right side of the head hurts and a migraine is diagnosed, then preparations are needed that relieve spasm of cerebral vessels (No-shpa, nicotinic acid, Baralgin, Nitroglycerin in small doses, etc.). This, as a rule, prevents the development of an attack. But if it nevertheless intensifies, vasoconstrictors are recommended, such as Ergotamine, Bellergal, Metisegid, etc. To reduce serotonin levels, Curantil, Indomethacin, etc. are used. It is useful in these cases also taking antidepressants and tranquilizers.
But it should be remembered that the selection of drugs is always strictly individual, and self-medication in this case leads to dangerous consequences!
Cervical migraine
In addition to the aforementioned disease, there are several more ailments, the main manifestation of which is a severe headache, but they have no relation to true migraine.
As a result of the impact on the vertebral artery of overgrown cartilage and bone structures, a person may develop the so-called cervical migraine. As a rule, it is associated with osteochondrosis in the cervical spine (first and second vertebra), but there are known cases of symptoms of this disease and as a result of trauma.
Compression or irritation of the artery, which occurs in such cases, provokes the occurrence of vascular spasms inside the brain, which causes manifestations similar to migraines. A person has a headache in the back of the head on the right, this burning throbbing pain gives in the temple, the superciliary, sometimes causes visual disturbances in the form of fog before the eyes or sensations of sand in the eyes. Turns of the head are accompanied by an increase in painful manifestations, as well as a feeling of heat or chills.
Patients also showed manifestations of dizziness, as well as tinnitus and hearing impairment.
All of the above symptoms require a mandatory visit to a neurologist for diagnosis and treatment selection.
What to do if the head hurts only on the right?
In most cases, true migraine changes the localization of painful sensations from an attack to an attack, so if they are moderate and are located all the time in one place, for example, the right side of the head constantly hurts, then we can talk about some kind of voluminous pathological process. This may also be a sign of hemorrhage after an injury, tumor, brain abscess or parasitic invasion, etc.
With such symptoms, you should urgently go to a neurologist and conduct diagnostic tests to exclude or confirm suspicions.
Chronic paroxysmal hemicrania
To understand, for example, why the right side of the head hurts, one should also remember such a painful, daily reminiscent of a disease as paroxysmal hemicrania.
The pain in this diagnosis is usually burning, boring. It always covers the same part of the head and can be repeated up to 16 times a day! The disease also covers the eye, which causes its retraction, the protein turns red, and the pupil narrows. The nose on the sore side, as a rule, is blocked, and tear fluid is released from the eye.
As confirmed by medical practice, when diagnosing paroxysmal hemicrania , the drug Indomethacin, taken orally in a dosage of up to 200 mg per day, has the greatest effectiveness in therapy.
Cluster headache
Cluster headache manifests itself in severe attacks, which patients try to get rid of by any means, sometimes even committing suicide. People describe their feelings as a sudden, without precursors, pain attack, which reaches its maximum in a few minutes. The frequency of such attacks can vary from 6 times a day to 1 time per week.
By the way, most often men are affected by this ailment. Interestingly, with this diagnosis, the right side of the head or the left side always hurts equally. The pain is localized around the eye, spreading to the temple, forehead or cheek. And this comes from attack to attack, without changing.
After clarifying the diagnosis, the patient is usually prescribed sedatives and sleeping pills, vitamins, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as Verapamil, Topiramat and Lithium carbonate (as a prophylaxis).
What to do if headache behind the ear on the right hurts
Pain behind the ear on the right or left can be a signal of complication after otitis media or inflammation of the middle ear. In a situation where the disease has not been sufficiently treated or not treated at all, purulent contents can accumulate in the middle ear cavity, which causes shooting pain.
If the head behind the ear hurts right or left, signaling a complication, then it is impossible to get rid of this pathology using only ear drops, a comprehensive treatment is required. For this, steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics are used (Sofradex, Polydex, Garazon). Pain sensations help reduce Otipax drops.
Headache with hypertension
With increasing pressure, the patient may also experience dull pain in the back of the head, as a rule, it hurts from the back to the right. The head “makes itself felt” in the morning hours and the symptom weakens only by noon. At the same time, an increase in poor health during physical exertion or mental stress is also characteristic. Sometimes hearing impairment and a feeling of stuffiness in the ears join the symptoms described.
Headache with increased pressure is treated together with the underlying disease that caused it. This requires constant monitoring of blood pressure and taking medications that support it in good condition. Only a specialist selects the dosage and type of medication taken, since in each case the combination of medications may be different.
Headache on the right hurts: what other diseases are hidden behind it?
In addition to the pathologies described above, it should be taken into account that the symptoms of glaucoma or inflammatory diseases of the organs of vision (uveitis, iritis, iridocyclitis) can also be manifested by headache on one side (along the trigeminal nerve).
Sinusitis is almost always accompanied by a feeling of fullness and a feeling that the head hurts on the right or left in the fronto-orbital region. By the way, chronic sinusitis causes a constant dull headache, which is expressed by intensifying, then decreasing spills.
Be mindful of yourself!
As you already understood, where and how your head hurts indicates various pathological processes taking place in the body. So, the causes of pain in the temples are, as a rule, a sign of circulatory disorders, and smoking or oxygen starvation may be factors provoking this symptom, and dental or cardiovascular problems are no less rare causes.
If, for example, it hurts from the back to the right, the head signals a pathology of the spine or changes in blood pressure, and the causes of pain in the frontal part are increased eye pressure and sinus infections.
If you are attentive to yourself, you will understand which specialist should contact for help. Depending on whether the head hurts from the top right, to the left in the back of the head, or completely, the specialist, after conducting the necessary examinations and establishing an accurate diagnosis, will prescribe a treatment that will help you get rid of the painful symptoms. Be healthy!