Is there anyone who has never experienced a headache in his life? There is almost no one who reads this article and answers 'yes' to this question. Because almost every person has experienced a headache at least once in their life.
Therefore, headache is an important health problem that concerns every individual, in one way or another, more or less.
We can define a headache as a discomforting condition that can occur in the whole or a certain part of the head, in a throbbing, stinging, boring or compressive nature.
Headaches negatively affect people's quality of life, depending on their severity and frequency. They can affect. Most people who suffer from frequent and severe headaches have difficulty performing their daily tasks, and their work lives, family lives and social lives are negatively affected. In some cases, headaches can be the first sign of a serious, life-threatening disease.
Causes of Headaches
The majority of all headaches experienced by people are caused by another 'primary' disease produced by the brain itself. In other words, they are 'primary' headaches and constitute 90% of all headaches.
A smaller portion of headaches are brain tumors, which may require urgent medical intervention and threaten human life. These are 'secondary' headaches that can occur due to many conditions such as cerebrovascular diseases.
For this reason, all headaches, whether new-onset or chronic, can be diagnosed with a detailed disease history (anamnesis) taken from the patient. Symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, light-sound sensitivity and vomiting that accompany headache should be carefully evaluated together with neurological findings and other physical findings. Only then can the cause of the headache be determined and appropriate treatments applied.
What Tests Do We Use in the Diagnosis and Differential Diagnosis of Headache?
Head In every patient who presents with pain, the first thing the physician tries to distinguish is whether the pain is a 'primary' headache produced by the brain or a 'secondary' headache caused by another disease in the brain or body!
This The most reliable way to make the distinction is to question the characteristics of the headache carefully, It is to perform a monthly neurological and physical examination.
Headache;
- If it is a new onset and very severe headache
- If the patient describes 'the most severe headache of my life'
- If it is accompanied by persistent vomiting
- If it occurs or increases with position (standing or lying down)
- If it occurs with physical activity, coughing, straining
- If the headache started in the last 6 months and continues despite treatment.
- If it occurs during pregnancy or after birth. If it has occurred
- If it started over the age of fifty and under the age of ten
- If there is pain in pediatric patients, especially in the neck area
- If the patient has been diagnosed with cancer or another disease
- If some neurological and physical examination findings are detected, secondary headaches should be considered.
In this case, neurological imaging methods such as MRI, tomography and other laboratory examinations are quite effective in making the diagnosis. It will have an important role.
If the characteristics of the headache do not suggest secondary headaches and the examination findings are normal, 'primary' headaches are considered.
The diagnosis of primary headaches is based entirely on the anamnesis taken from the patient (the history of the disease). ) is based on . Headaches such as tension-type headache, migraine, and cluster headache are the most common examples of primary headaches.
Primary headaches are classified under dozens of headings according to an internationally accepted classification. These headaches, classified under dozens of headings, are diagnosed not by MRI, tomography or blood test, but entirely by the characteristics of the headache (such as the type of pain, location, duration, accompanying symptoms, etc.).
Primary headaches are defined as It is very important to define it correctly. Because the treatment of each type of headache can be completely different from each other.
Neurological imaging methods and other laboratory examinations; It should be done in cases where headache characteristics suggest secondary headaches and in cases where neurological and physical examination are abnormal.
Headache is due to another cause (secondary). If it is thought to be a headache); >- Cerebral Angiography,
- MRI Venography,
- Doppler Ultrasonography,
- Electroencephalography (EEG),
- Lumbar Puncture (LP) and Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) examinations,
- Temporal artery biopsy,
- Biochemical examinations such as sedimentation and CRP,
- Sinus radiography Examination methods such as can be used.
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