Headache is one of the leading reasons for consulting a physician all over the world. The biggest cause of workforce loss in the world is headaches. Almost everyone complains of headaches at least a few times a year. 5% of women and 3% of men spend almost half of the year with headaches.
Very different reasons cause different types of pain. There are headaches that last for a few hours, as well as pain that lasts for several weeks. Headaches are divided into different groups according to their types.
If the headache is caused by another disease in the brain or body, this pain is classified as 'secondary headaches'. On the other hand, headache is not due to any other disease and may appear as a disease itself. Headaches that are not caused by another disease are included in the 'primary headaches' group. Although we call all of them 'headache' without discrimination in our daily lives, there are different types of headaches such as migraine, tension, cluster and different causes. Migraine, which is detected in most of the people who apply to the neurology clinic with headache complaints, is actually not just a pain but a syndrome that can be accompanied by many signs and symptoms. After leading symptoms such as restlessness, basket-head feeling, difficulty in concentrating hours before, these are disturbing pains that are sometimes partial, sometimes bilateral, throbbing, increase with movement, can be accompanied by light and noise sensitivity, nausea and sometimes even vomiting. A genetic predisposition is seen in the mother or If one of the fathers has migraine, the child has a 40% chance of suffering from migraine.
Some of those who experience persistent headaches think they have sinusitis. Part of it is that I think I must be experiencing the same pain that almost everyone else experiences. He does not consult a doctor in hesitation. While there are patients who use a lot of painkillers, we also have patients who do not use them at all. As primary headaches, we mostly see migraine, tension-type headache, cluster headache and less common headaches accompanied by other autonomic findings. In order to make these diagnoses, it is necessary to first rule out secondary headaches. Before proceeding with imaging methods, the patient's history must be listened to in detail. The onset time, location, duration, severity and frequency of the pain, and whether there are accompanying findings should be examined. It is important to what extent these pains affect the patient's quality of life. The patient's life and work conditions, if he is working, situations that trigger pain that he pays particular attention to, such as food and beverages, sleep status, stress factors, and whether he complies with his meal schedule should be questioned. In the differential diagnosis of primary headaches, only the pain history taken from the patient is important. Everyone's way of experiencing pain and pain threshold may be different, and pain-relieving medications have different effects on everyone.
If you have a headache for more than 15 days a month, your headache has become chronic. 2% of the population has chronic migraine. It is usually seen in middle-aged women. The coexistence of tension headache and migraine is noteworthy in these patients. Once the pain becomes chronic, its characteristics may change. It may become milder, but it may occur every day. It may cause the need to take painkillers every day, which unfortunately may cause headaches due to excessive use of painkillers.
In what cases should a doctor be consulted?*
>If the pain occurs suddenly and very severely
* If there is a new pain that is increasingly disturbing a
* If there is double vision or speech disorder
* If the pain increases with activities such as coughing or straining
* If it does not respond to medications
* Vomiting and fever
* If you wake up at night with pain
* If it first appeared after the age of 50
* If the pain occurred after a blow to the head or an accident
* p>
* If you think you've never had a headache like this before.
Factors that trigger migraine attacks*
Nutrition (canned foods, alcohol, artificial sweeteners, chocolate, old cheese, meal skipping)
* Hormonal changes (menstrual period, menopause)
* Birth control pills or other hormonal medications
* Stress, sadness, depression l Excessive physical fatigue
* Excessively bright environments
* Insomnia or excessive sleepiness
* Family history.
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