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These pains can vary from being simply annoying to being annoying in severity.
They can appear anywhere in the head. Headaches that involve pain in the back of the head can have several different causes. Many of these causes can be identified by additional symptoms. These symptoms include the type of pain experienced and other places where there may be pain.
Causes
What causes pain in the back of the head?
Several different causes can cause headaches in the back of the head. These headaches also cause pain elsewhere or are triggered by specific events in many cases.
The types of pain, location, and other symptoms you feel can help your doctor diagnose what is causing your headache and how to treat it.
Pain in the neck and the back of the head
Arthritis: arthritis headaches are caused by inflammation and swelling in the neck area. They often cause pain in the back of the head and neck.
The movement usually triggers more intense pain. Any arthritis can cause these headaches. The most common are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Poor posture: poor posture can also cause pain in the back of the head and neck. The wrong position of the body creates tension in the back, shoulders, and neck. And that tension can cause a headache. You may feel a dull throbbing pain at the base of your skull.
Herniated discs: Herniated discs in the cervical spine (neck) can cause pain and tension in the neck. This can drive a type of headache called cervicogenic headache. The pain usually originates and is felt in the back of the head. It can also be felt at the temples or behind the eyes.
Other symptoms may include discomfort in the shoulders or upper arms. Cervicogenic headaches may intensify when lying down. Some people will wake up because the pain interrupts their sleep. When lying down, you may also feel pressure on your head like a weight.
Occipital Neuralgia: Occipital neuralgia is a condition that occurs when nerves from the spinal cord to the scalp are damaged. It is often confused with migraines. The neuralgia occipital causes severe, painful and throbbing pain that starts at the base of the head and neck and moves toward the scalp.
Other symptoms include pain behind the eyes and a solid throbbing sensation that feels like an electric shock to the neck and the back of the head, sensitivity to the light, sensitive scalp, and pain when moving the neck.
Pain in the right side and the back of the head
Tension headaches: tension headaches are the most common cause of pain. These headaches occur on the back and right side of the head. They can include a tightness in the neck or scalp. They feel like a dull pain, tight and tight that does not beat.
Pain in the left side and the back of the head
Migraines: Migraines can appear in any location, but many people experience them on the left side of the head or the back of the head. Migraines can cause severe pain, throbbing and throbbing auras, nausea, vomiting, and watery eyes sensitivity to light or sound.
Migraine headaches can begin on the left side of the head and then move around the temple to the back of the head.
Pain in the back of the head when lying down
Cluster headaches: cluster headaches are rare but extremely painful.
They get their name from the ” cluster periods ” in which they occur. People with cluster headaches experience frequent attacks. These periods or patterns of attack can last for weeks or months.
Cluster headaches can cause pain in the back of the head or on the sides of the head. They can get worse when they are lying down. Other symptoms to consider include acute, penetrating, burning pain, restlessness, nausea, tearing, nasal congestion, drooping eyelid, and sensitivity to light and sound.
Treatment
How is the pain in the back of the head treated?
The symptoms of many headaches can be reduced with over-the-counter pain relief medications, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol).
Some medications, such as Tylenol Extra-Strength, can help with chronic headaches. The treatment is most effective based on the exact cause of your headache.
Treatment of arthritis headaches
Arthritis headaches are best treated with anti-inflammatories and heat to reduce inflammation.
Treatment of headaches caused by poor posture
Headaches caused by bad posture can be treated immediately with acetaminophen. In the long term, you can treat or try to prevent these headaches by improving your posture. Buy an ergonomic work chair with good lumbar support and sit with both feet on the floor.
Treatment of headaches caused by herniated discs
The headaches caused by herniated discs depend on the treatment of the underlying condition.
Treatment for herniated discs includes physiotherapy, gentle stretching, chiropractic manipulation, epidural injections for inflammation, and surgery if necessary. You can maintain good results with the exercise.
Treatment of occipital neuralgia
Occipital neuralgia can be treated through heat therapy, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, physical therapy, massage, and prescription muscle relaxants.
Your doctor may inject a local anesthetic into the occipital area for immediate relief in severe cases. This treatment option can last up to 12 weeks.
Treatment of tension headaches
Tension headaches are usually treated with over-the-counter pain relievers. Your doctor may prescribe prescription medications for severe and chronic tension headaches.
Your doctor may also prescribe preventive medications such as antidepressants or muscle relaxants to reduce headaches in the future.
Migraine treatment
For migraines, your doctor may prescribe a preventive medication, such as a beta-blocker, and medicine to relieve pain right away. Some over-the-counter medications are designed specifically for migraines.
These may work for mild but not severe migraines. Your doctor can also help you discover what triggers your migraines to avoid these stimuli.
Treatment of cluster headaches
The treatment for cluster headaches focuses on shortening the headache period, reducing the severity of attacks, and preventing new attacks.
Acute treatment may include triptans, which are also used to treat migraines and can be injected for quick relief by octreotide, an artificially injectable version of the brain hormone, somatostatin, and local anesthetics.
Preventive methods may include corticosteroids, calcium channel blockers, melatonin, and nerve blockers.
In extremely severe cases, surgery may be used.
When to see a doctor
Make an appointment with your doctor if:
You begin to experience new headaches that last more than a few days; your headaches interfere with your normal activities and if you experience recent changes in headache patterns.
If you develop a worse severe headache than you have ever had, or if your headaches get progressively worse, you should schedule an appointment as soon as possible.
Some symptoms indicate an emergency:
If you experience headaches along with any of the following symptoms, seek emergency medical attention:
- Sudden changes in your personality, including uncharacteristic changes in mood or agitation.
- Fever.
- Neck stiffness.
- Confusion and decreased alertness to the point where he struggles to concentrate on visual conversation disturbances.
- Difficulty speaking.
- Weakness (including the weakness on one side of the face) and numbness in any body part.
- Intense headaches after a blow to the head.
- Headaches appear extremely abruptly when they usually do not, especially if they have awakened.
Pain in the head and neck due to stress
The causes of pain in the neck are rarely serious diseases; Typically, the headache and neck are caused by stress.
Emotional/mental tensions such as worrying about a deadline or finances, mourning a loss, and feeling angry, irritated and frustrated make people tighten or unconsciously tighten the muscles, especially those in the neck.
Often, he does not even realize that he has been tensing his muscles until he realizes that he has a throbbing headache or can not turn his head.
Physical stress also plays a role in neck and head pain: sleeping in an uncomfortable position, stooping while reading or watching television, and cuddling on a computer keyboard for hours can cause the neck muscles to tense up.
These muscles adhere to the base of the skull, so when your neck hurts, your head often does too.
Be Happy
At this point, many people look for painkillers. And while they can offer neck pain relief in the short term, they do not address the underlying structural causes of pain, and they have side effects that range from merely annoying to life-threatening.
Side effects can cause chemical stress in the body, increasing pain symptoms in the head and neck.
But even if you can not follow the advice of the “be happy” song all the time, you can still find natural relief from headaches and neck pain.
Relief of headache and neck
You do not have to escape from the modern world to escape the headache and neck pain!
The safe and natural correction of the underlying cause of neck and head pain is practically a routine for chiropractors.
By identifying areas of misalignment in the neck and upper back and gently restoring proper alignment, the tension in the neck muscles and irritation of the nerves can be alleviated naturally.
When your muscles and nerves usually function, your neck is not so tight or stiff, and you are less likely to have a headache.
Chiropractic enjoys an excellent reputation as the most crucial alternative health care approach globally, and for a good reason, it gets results! Unlike drugs, which only treat symptoms, chiropractic addresses the underlying cause of the symptoms.
The relief of neck pain is still the result, but it is a natural and lasting relief based on restoring the body’s normal functioning.