Sometimes doctors give their patients a sophisticated diagnosis of cephalalgia. What it is? What is the cause of this disease? What causes it? Is it possible to get rid of him forever?
Definition of cephalgia
Few people know the word cephalgia - this is the most common headache. According to statistics, nine out of ten people experience it at least once a year. There is even an International Association for the Study of Headaches in the world that has developed their classification (ICGB).
Cephalgia in most cases is not considered an independent disease and is only a symptom of any pathology or body reaction to external stimuli. To date, about 200 different forms of manifestation of headaches are known: from localized only in a certain area of the head to palpable in all its areas, in the neck and in the facial section; from weak, fast-passing, to painful, lasting several days. There are no pain receptors in the nerve fibers of the brain, therefore cephalgia arises from the action of the stimulus not on the cerebral cortex, but on the receptors of the periosteum, eyes, mucous membranes, sinuses, subcutaneous tissue, as well as receptors located in the head or neck of blood vessels, muscles, nerve tissue.
Classification
All headaches are divided into two types - primary and secondary. Secondary cephalgia is a headache that occurs against the background of a disease, for example, a brain tumor.
In rare cases, secondary cephalalgia is not dangerous - for example, if it was caused by the use of large doses of drugs. Most often, secondary headache is an alarming symptom. To get rid of it, treatment of the underlying disease is required. Primary cephalalgia is tension headache, migraine,
trigeminal neuralgia, cluster headache, and hemicrania continuum. These headaches are most often caused by nervous strain or a change in pressure. According to pathogenesis, headaches are divided into neuralgic, vasomotor, muscle tension, cerebrospinal fluid and mixed.
Vasomotor cephalgia: what is it
A headache caused by a change in pressure in the blood vessels is called vasomotor. According to a number of signs, migraine also belongs to this type of cephalgia. This is a neurological disease that can be inherited.
Migraine is caused by psychological stress, weather, stress, the use of certain types of foods (cheese, nuts, seafood) or drinks (champagne, beer), fatigue, lack of sleep. Migraines are characterized by severe pulsating pain in a certain part of the head, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, dizziness. Sometimes the process affects the eye sockets, jaw or neck. With migraines, as a rule, there are no brain tumors and skull injuries. Vasomotor cephalgia caused by an increase in blood pressure can occur immediately after waking up or from heavy physical exertion. With a hypertensive crisis, cephalgia is expressed by rather strong pain and can reach seizures and confusion. With a decrease in pressure, a vasomotor headache can begin when a person lies or his head is in a lowered state.
Tension headache
The most common are chronic (occurring regularly, more than 15 times a month) and episodic tension headaches.
Cephalgia syndrome in this case is caused by excessive overstrain of the nervous system, as well as individual psychological characteristics of a person’s character, his suspiciousness, “self-eating”, and anxiety. With cephalgia of tension, pain in any particular area of the head is not localized. It can be felt in the forehead, temples, in the neck. From putting on a hat, combing, bright light, loud or harsh sounds, smells, it can be amplified. Patients often experience nausea, vomiting. As a rule, such a headache is relieved by analgesics.
Liquorodynamic headaches
Liquorodynamic cephalgia is a headache caused by a change in intracranial pressure. Its increase is caused by edema and brain tumors, craniocerebral injuries, hemorrhage and other diseases.
The nature of the pain in this case is bursting, intensifying with an uncomfortable position of the head and is accompanied by vomiting, and in some cases - loss of consciousness. A decrease in intracranial pressure occurs when the integrity of the bones of the skull and meninges is violated, with an overdose of certain medications, and loss of cerebrospinal fluid. Cephalgia syndrome in such cases is manifested by drainage pain, aggravated by movement and in an upright position. As a rule, it is monotonous, but long-lasting.
Diagnosis and treatment
If the headache is primary, it does not occur often and quickly disappears after taking the analgesic or without any treatment at all, no tests are required. For such pains, it is recommended to keep records in which you need to record the time of their appearance, the presumptive reason (not enough sleep, overworked, and so on). So you can understand and eliminate the cause of their occurrence. However, it is impossible to find out the cause by simple observation if the patient has persistent cephalgia. What it is? Cases when the head hurts regularly, pain is higher than moderate, does not go away for a long time, is difficult to relieve with analgesics and is accompanied by complications. They require clinical examinations, which include pressure measurement, fundus examination , electroencephalography, head tomography, and sometimes even lumbar puncture. The treatment of such headaches should be based on the elimination of the cause that causes them. In some cases, surgical intervention is necessary. If cephalgia is not associated with the underlying disease, preventive measures give a good effect. They consist of massage courses, acupuncture, manual therapy, balanced nutrition, proper daily routine, regular breathing exercises and refusing bad habits.