Headache in women, causes. Causes of frequent headaches in women Headache in women after 40 years

Virtually every person has probably heard various jokes regarding regular female headaches - pretending in the name of avoiding intimacy with the beloved. However, for those who actually experience a similar phenomenon, it can be difficult to joke about this - for them, it is much more pressing to find a solution to the problem of why they feel dizzy and sore every day.

You should not assume that attempts to find the reason why you have a headache every day, as well as this phenomenon itself, accompany the lives of only a negligible number of people. Nowadays, a similar problem affects an increasing number of city residents, and for some of them the most pressing question is why they have headaches in their temples every day, and most often the pain is dull in nature.

Doctors often call this painful condition CHEB, i.e. chronic daily headache, insist on it not as a separate diagnosis, but only by stating the fact of the presence of this symptom as such. Moreover, it has been noted that the fair half of humanity, due to certain hormonal and physiological characteristics, is affected by CHB more often than men, and some have encountered this almost since childhood.

Of course, the most correct approach, as in the case of other pathological phenomena, in this case will be the patient’s desire to identify the root cause of his painful condition and try to eradicate it. However, only a few people who are faced with chronic headaches act so wisely - the rest prefer to take increasingly large doses of various anabolic steroids for years, but not go to the doctor. Meanwhile, whatever the cause of the above-mentioned painful condition in a particular case, it always signals one thing - problems with the vascular system of the brain, which, if ignored, can lead to the development of dangerous ailments such as stroke.

Of course, in this case, you should not immediately fall into a state of panic and, at the slightest ailment, try to find signs of something terrible - for example, brain oncology. If the pain sensations are not constant and absolutely unbearable, and they began to be observed relatively recently, perhaps there is no talk of anything significant yet.

For girls in general, in comparison with men, in this regard, at least one completely harmless reason for this phenomenon is added - features of the menstrual cycle. Every fertile woman who has no problems with menstruation has to deal with the notorious PMS every month, which is sometimes accompanied by headaches, often quite intense. The catch here is the “jump” of hormones, in this case progesterone and estrogen, to which the body reacts very painfully, because it takes some time to adjust to the changed level of these substances.

Similar phenomena also occur under other circumstances - after conception: the onset of pregnancy, when a woman sometimes does not even know about her condition, is associated, among other things, with pain in the head and constantly changing blood pressure levels.

However, girls should not discount much less harmless hypothetical causes of the headaches that regularly torment them, primarily stressful situations and sleep disturbances. These are quite familiar to many residents of megacities, for whom various stress factors, such as chronic “strain” at work or school, have become something commonplace - but therefore no less dangerous in terms of undesirable consequences for the body.

It is extremely important for a girl who cares about her own health to reduce the impact of such situations on her life and strive to protect herself from most of them, thereby reducing the degree of nervous tension. In addition, regardless of the load due to various responsibilities and roles in life, sleep must be allocated the number of hours necessary for proper rest - otherwise the body as a whole and the head vessels in particular will wear out faster.

One of the factors contributing to the development of chronic headaches is the almost permanent visual strain that many people experience due to frequent sitting in front of a computer monitor. In this case, you should not forget about medical recommendations, which suggest that every hour of such work be interrupted for about 10-15 minutes, switching to some other activity.

It is unacceptable and unnecessary to get carried away with painkillers: sometimes, no matter how absurd it may sound, pain in the head is a reaction to the body being tired of an anabolic steroid.

The above is not all the hypothetically acceptable causes of headaches that are constantly observed in women of different ages, but the main thing that you need to take away from this is that it is unacceptable to fight such phenomena on your own; you need to identify the factor that provokes them together with a doctor.

Frequent headaches in women are a serious problem. And it doesn’t matter at all what a woman does: whether she is a big manager or just a housewife. In any case, this creates additional problems both for the woman herself and for the people around her.

The brain itself cannot hurt; it hurts the blood vessels, nerves, muscles of the body - everything that has special receptors. Pain is a consequence of a painful disorder of any human organ, and not the root cause in itself.

Types of headaches in women

Based on what causes pain, doctors divide them into two categories: primary headaches and secondary ones.

Primary

It is their independent and uncontrolled use that can cause the risk of developing severe complications, in particular exacerbation of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

The intake and dosage of medications should be carried out as recommended by a doctor. As an additional treatment procedure, the doctor may recommend sessions of electrophoresis, iontophoresis or other options for physiotherapeutic effects on the body.

Prevention of pain

Therefore, it is important for every person to learn to control their thoughts and actions in order to minimize the stress effects on the body:

• remain calm and friendly in any situation;
• do not think badly about yourself or others;
• exercise regularly;
• eat healthy and balanced foods;
• just get enough sleep, but avoid oversleeping and over-relaxation.

A more serious and thorough approach is associated with cognitive therapy, when psychologists teach a person to control his thoughts and actions and thereby remove negative factors that can cause headaches. Our life today is tense and hectic, and we must try to prevent inevitable changes in the mode of work, rest and communication from becoming the cause of illnesses and headaches in particular.

Headache, even at the modern level of medical development, remains a rather mysterious phenomenon - on the one hand, almost every person has encountered this symptom at least once during their life, on the other hand, each patient can describe this symptom in completely different ways.

That is why the doctor has to refer the patient for examination in order to find out the true cause of frequent headaches, because this symptom can hide diseases of the spinal column, pathological processes affecting the vascular system of the brain and the circulatory system of the whole body, and malignant neoplasms, and inflammatory processes affecting the meninges.

If a patient complains that he often has a headache, then the worst tactic he can choose is to try to self-medicate and start taking painkillers on his own, without a doctor’s prescription.

1. Firstly, such treatment in most cases is completely ineffective - for different types of headaches, even the same patient will get relief from completely different drugs and treatment methods, what can we say about the fact that in no case should you take the drug without consulting a doctor who helped a friend or neighbor.
2. Secondly, almost all drugs that are prescribed to treat frequent headaches have significant side effects, and a drug taken frequently can cause irreparable damage to the body, and the consequences can be very serious.
3. Third, it is necessary to identify and eliminate the cause of frequent headaches, and then unpleasant sensations will not be able to disrupt the plans of a person of any age.

Currently, doctors identify the following causes of frequent headaches:

• Dysregulation of the tone of the arteries and veins that form the vascular system of the brain, including the vessels located in the meninges;
• Blood pressure regulation disorders – hypertension and its complications;
• Infectious and inflammatory diseases of the membranes and substance of the brain;
• Diseases of the musculoskeletal system - can cause cervical artery syndrome, which causes disturbances in the vertebrobasilar circulation;
• Atherosclerosis of the vessels of the systemic circulation, including a process affecting the carotid artery system;
• Diseases of the muscles of the upper limb and neck, which provoke the occurrence of;
• Complications of pregnancy - development of severe forms of late gestosis;
• Injuries, including previous ones;
• Acute and chronic intoxication of the body.

It should be noted that frequent, regardless of the cause of their occurrence, appear when pain receptors located in the vessels of the brain and its membranes (soft, arachnoid, hard) are irritated - the substance of the brain itself, including the cortex, cannot hurt only because that they lack pain receptors at all.

Even if the cause of a headache is pathological processes occurring in the brain, this unpleasant symptom will appear only when changes affect the membranes of the brain. It is for this reason that with hypertension, frequent headaches in the back of the head or temples occur very often, and tumor processes in the brain tissue will be asymptomatic until the free outflow of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles and spaces of the brain is disrupted.

Frequent headaches - what you need to pay attention to

If you experience frequent headaches, you must pay attention to the circumstances that accompany this symptom. When examining a patient, the doctor, after listening to his story, tries to find out:

• How did the headache appear?
• What preceded its appearance;
• Where was it localized and how did it move;
• What phenomena (nausea, vomiting, tinnitus, unsteadiness of gait) accompanied her;
• What is the patient's age?
• Has the patient's general condition changed?

It is on the basis of this information that the doctor can suspect the main cause of frequent headaches and the mechanism of their development, as well as the influence of associated factors on the patient’s body. According to the suspected cause, a program of instrumental and laboratory tests is selected, and a decision is made on the need to consult medical specialists in related specialties.

Types of frequent headaches and features

If frequent pain occurs, he is not always able to tell his parents what and where it hurts. In patients in the first years of life, it is necessary to pay attention to changes in behavior, appetite, as well as indirect signs indicating the possibility of a headache - lethargy, lethargy, unexplained agitation or drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, changes in muscle tone in skeletal muscles. In children of the first year of life, the cause of frequent headaches is organic or functional disorders of the central nervous system, the consequences of intrauterine hypoxia and generic grass. An indirect sign of disorders may be increased tone of the skeletal muscles of the limbs, tension in the neck muscles, an unusual reaction to external stimuli, late overgrowth of the fontanelles of the skull - without consulting a qualified pediatric psychoneurologist and examination, it is often impossible to determine the cause of this condition.

Frequent occurrences become a sign of possible gestosis in the second half of pregnancy - in this case, the appearance of pain may be accompanied by flashing spots before the eyes, convulsive twitching of the trunk muscles, and progressive depression of consciousness. The lack of qualified medical care and immediate treatment can cause tragic consequences for both the woman herself and her child. It is important to remember that the cause of headaches in this case is not only an increase in blood pressure (it may increase slightly or remain normal), but also disturbances in the regulation of vascular tone and disorders of water-electrolyte metabolism. That is why pregnant women, if even a mild headache appears, should immediately report it to the doctor who is observing it - treatment is carried out in a hospital, taking into account all identified changes.

If the patient is bothered by frequent headaches and dizziness, then the cause of this condition can be both tumor processes in the brain (both benign and malignant) and vascular disorders that occur in the vertebral-basilar arteries. It must be remembered that any tumor process in the brain will sooner or later be complicated by the appearance of headaches, because the volume of the skull is quite closed, and they will invariably arise, but the rate of their growth will be different.

If frequent symptoms occur, then, first of all, it is necessary to exclude the presence of various intoxications - both acute and chronic. Acute intoxications can be associated with bacterial and viral infections, the entry of toxic compounds from outside into the body, but this symptom is very quickly relieved when the cause of the disease disappears. Such a headache may be accompanied by fever and vomiting, and in case of intoxication after vomiting, the headache usually becomes less. Chronic intoxication most often becomes one of the manifestations of renal or liver failure.

If the headache persists after an attack of vomiting, then this may indicate organic damage to the tissues of the central nervous system, inflammatory diseases, infections and tumor processes in the brain.

Frequent headaches in the back of the head in the vast majority of cases are caused by vascular diseases or diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Such headaches can also occur with hypertension, an atherosclerotic process that affects the vessels of the brain, vertebral artery syndrome, which is one of the complications of osteochondrosis and other degenerative processes that occur in the cervical spine. To establish the true cause of frequent headaches in the back of the head, it may be necessary to use all the achievements of modern medicine, including ultrasound (Dopplerography) of the vessels of the neck and spinal cord, computer and magnetic resonance therapy of the head and neck, angiographic studies of blood vessels, and radiography of the spine. With proper treatment, it is quite well controlled, but a long course of therapy may be required to completely cure the patient.

Frequent headaches in the temples can occur as tension headaches. The cause of their occurrence may be a violation of the regulation of muscle tone in the neck and shoulder girdle. Such pain can intensify after the body is in an uncomfortable position, physical strain, or stress. If a headache occurs in the temple on only one side, then such pain can become one of the manifestations of migraine and cluster headaches in men - the causes of this type of frequent headache have not been sufficiently studied and an individual prevention and treatment program is selected for each patient after examination.

Headache This is a fairly common illness among women and, as medical practice shows, women of all ages can suffer from it. In addition, in the female part of the population such ailment occurs much more often than in men, and it is more severe and longer.

Often, headaches become like this intense, which interferes with everyday activities, taking away all energy and activity, while a woman may experience nausea, fear of light and sound.

Unfortunately, most girls does not apply seek medical help for such symptoms, preferring painkillers or “grandmother’s” treatments for migraines. But you need to understand that frequent headaches can serve indicator weakened immunity, chronic fatigue and even serious pathology.

You can understand the causes of pain on one's own, for this it is necessary to understand at what point in the head the pain sensations are localized and what nature they are.

Frequent headaches in the temples in women

The most common type of headaches in women is temporal pain. About 70% of the entire female population of the planet suffers from them, in most cases these are women of reproductive age. Pain in the temples can occur at any time of the day, even early in the morning, when it would seem that the body has fully recovered.

Types of temporal pain

Pain in the temple area varies from woman to woman:

• sharp pain in the left, right or both temples;
• It's a dull pain;
• throbbing pain;
• dull pain;

Of course, in this case it’s not the temples themselves that hurt, but temporal arteries located inside the skull. The duration of such pain can be completely varied: from two minutes to several hours.

Causes of pain in the temples

Often, frequent pain in the temporal region in women occurs due to overwork, and low intracranial pressure, which does not have serious consequences for the body.

However, there are other causes of pain in the temples:

• infectious diseases: influenza, sore throat, brucellosis and others;
• migraine. Here we write in detail about...
• poisoning;
• insomnia;
• menstruation;
• hormonal disorders;
• starvation;
• pheochromocytoma.

Often, pain in the temples indicates the body’s weather dependence and is just a reaction to a sudden change in weather, an unstable magnetic field, thunderstorms, rain or snowfall.

Studying the effects of height and depth on the human body, American scientists came to the conclusion that 30% of people When climbing to a height of more than 4 km, for example, climbing a mountain, a headache began to ache in the temple area.

Temporal headaches also occurred in some passengers airplanes. This is due to a sharp increase in intracranial pressure. At the same time, people who descended to great depths in the sea almost never experienced temporal pain.

Treatment of pain in the temples

Frequent pain in the temples in women, as a rule, pass on their own, after a good healthy sleep, however, given the modern rhythm of life, this is not always possible.

The following methods will help relieve or eliminate pain in the temples:

• acupressure of temples and forehead;
• a cup of coffee or strong tea with bergamot;
• chamomile decoction;
• cold compress to the temple area.

Today, doctors disagree that temporal headache it's not worth tolerating. Some experts firmly believe that the use of painkillers to eliminate the disease is possible only on the recommendation of a doctor, and only if other methods have proven ineffective.

Ask your doctor about your situation

Types of frequent headaches and their characteristics in women

Each woman is individual, just like her body, which means the pain sensations for each of them will be completely different.

Doctors identify only four forms of head pain in women:

1. - the most excruciating, long-term pain that can last from an hour to several days and take a woman out of her usual rhythm of life. This form of the disease is accompanied by severe pain that spreads throughout the head;
2. chronic- a rare form of pain that appears in a woman, usually after an injury or illness. Its frequency can be up to 15 days a month, and the intensity and location are constantly changing;
3. migraine- headache of a neurological nature, most often occurring in one half of the head. The frequency of migraines in women ranges from 3 times a month to 3 times a year.
4. tension- the most popular form of headache among women. It occurs in the area of ​​the crown, back of the head, crown, forehead and is accompanied by a feeling of compression of the brain by forceps.

Despite the fact that experts identify only four types of headaches, some women are able to experience other forms of its manifestation. For example, nagging pain in the eye sockets or sharp pain in the forehead.

Hormonal headaches in women

A headache can occur for completely different reasons:

• fatigue;
• stress;
• heat;
• neck muscle tension and much more.

But there is a special type of headache that is unique to women - hormone. It is influenced by the menstrual cycle, or more precisely, by the hormonal changes in the body that occur in a woman’s body during ovulation, menstruation and “safe days”.

Previously, we considered a similar question about .

In this case, a headache may arise from:

• a drop in the hormones estrogen and progesterone a week before menstruation;
• menstrual migraine that occurs with the arrival of menstruation;
• taking birth control pills high in estrogen;
• hormonal therapy during menopause.

Weak and moderate hormonal headaches in women they are considered normal, and are present in many representatives of the fair sex, especially before the onset of menstruation. But if the headache is very severe, there are symptoms of nausea and vomiting, and body aches, then you should consult a gynecologist.

Headaches during pregnancy

Already from the first days of pregnancy, some women, along with fatigue, irritability, experience headache.

There is no need to worry about this; in the first trimester, this behavior of the body is completely normal and can serve as one of the early signs of pregnancy. Although more often, headaches occur only in the last months of pregnancy and only occasionally appear in the second trimester.

Causes of headaches during pregnancy:

• hormonal changes;
• hunger;
• overweight;
• external irritants: bright light, unpleasant noise or smell;
• stress;
• fatigue;
• indoor climate: dry air, stuffy.

Hypotension and hypertension during pregnancy

Low or high blood pressure is a common reason for headaches in pregnant women.

Hypotension (low blood pressure) is a frequent companion of pregnant women, especially pronounced in the first trimester, i.e. in the early stages.

Hypertension (high blood pressure), on the contrary, begins in girls in the last trimester with late toxicosis. Both phenomena are not uncommon and are accompanied by headaches, causing a lot of trouble for the expectant mother.

To help eliminate headaches during pregnancy:

• acupressure of the head, forehead, eyebrows and temples;
• walks in the open air;
• compress;
• herbal tea.

Painkillers, analgesics and other drugs are prescribed extremely rarely during pregnancy, it is recommended to use non-drug treatment.

Causes of frequent headaches in women

Often women look at the problem headaches through his fingers, without paying due attention to her. A rare person will go to see a doctor because of a headache, attributing the ailment to bad weather or stress at work. But sometimes the reason is hidden in something completely different.

It is worth noting that the brain and its cortex themselves do not have the ability to hurt. Unpleasant sensations arise only in the vessels, muscles and nerves, which are located in the head and have sensory receptors. Frequent headache can serve as a kind of beacon signaling serious disorders in a woman’s body.

There are only two causes of headaches:

• primary;
• secondary.

Primary headaches in women

As a rule, to get rid of from such pain, it is enough to rest well, get enough sleep and get yourself in order.

Frequent primary headaches can occur due to almost anything:

• failure in the daily routine;
• stress at work;
• quarrel with husband;
• long work at the computer;
• excitement and even tears.

Primary headaches can also occur due to:

• coffee overdose;
• alcohol;
• poisoning;
• stress;
• weather change.

Usually primary headaches, even very frequent ones, don't carry a serious threat to the body and after proper treatment, disappear from a woman’s life for a long time.

Secondary headaches

This type of pain is a symptom of another serious illness women, and is only of a warning nature, which is worth listening to in order to avoid dire consequences.

Factors that provoke secondary headaches:

• infection;
• traumatic brain injury;
• inflammation of the brain;
• tumor;
• vascular damage.

Unfortunately, the number of such diseases can be continued endlessly, and these are only the most popular causes. Secondary pain factors can also be determined using self-diagnosis, monitoring your body’s reaction to various factors.

These include:

• nausea and vomiting;
• chills;
• fear of light and sound;
• dizziness.

If one or several of these signs appear, accompanied by a headache, you need to consult a doctor to undergo a full examination of the brain and find out the true cause of the disease.

What should you pay attention to if you have frequent headaches?

Doctors are confident that headaches in women are a normal reaction of the body to various factors, and often they do not pose a serious threat to the health and life of a woman. However, it is worth knowing that when normal condition of the body, such pain can occur no more than twice a week.

If headaches torment a woman for more than this period, then this indicates a deviation from the norm and requires the intervention of specialists.

Treatment of frequent headaches in women

A patient who comes to a doctor for help cannot yet know with certainty why he is experiencing headaches.

The first thing you need to do is undergo a comprehensive examination, which includes:

• MRI- X-ray of the brain, allowing you to see changes in the substance of the brain;
• Ultrasound- checking the blood vessels and cervical vertebrae, violations of which can cause frequent headaches;
• EEG— reads biocurrents and determines changes in brain functions.

Doctors are confident that most women, after the tests, not detected pathologies and serious deviations.

The cause of frequent pain, as a rule, is hidden not in the head itself, but in other organs, which should also be checked by undergoing examinations with dentist, ENT specialist, ophthalmologist, neurologist. If they do not reveal health problems, treatment can be carried out independently; most likely, a weakened immune system, overwork or stress are making themselves known.

Treating frequent headaches at home

There is no definite answer why men experience headaches less often. However, there are suggestions by some scientists in the field of psychology that women more emotional and sensitive to external factors, they are more likely to worry and take everything to heart, which is why headaches occur.

The following steps will help you get rid of them:

• relaxing massage of the head, face and whole body;
• strong herbal tea;
• walk in the fresh air;
• strong dream;
• compress from chamomile decoction;
• meditation.

Women who often experience headaches are advised to learn how to:

• take control of your thoughts and emotions;
• rest more often;
• stay calm in stressful situations.

Tablets and drugs

Sometimes a headache can take a woman by surprise, preventing her from concentrating on an important task, such as work.

There is no time for a massage or a walk in nature, but getting rid of the disease is simply necessary. Today, there are many drugs that can overcome pain in the head, ranging from homeopathic remedies to antibiotics.

The most popular of them are:

• Citramon;
• Baralgin;
• Next;
• No-shpa.

But you should not think that all pills are equally useful; improper use of medications can cause serious complications, and therefore, before using them, it is better to consult a doctor.

It has long been noted that the frequency, intensity and duration of headaches in women is much higher than in men. Unfortunately, this is a medical fact based on a number of characteristics of the female body. In this article we will look at specific “female” types of headaches, as well as all concomitant diseases and conditions that provoke this disease.

Types of different types of headaches in women

It is customary to distinguish pain as vascular, muscular, vascular-muscular, etc. In addition, the duration and intensity of pain are usually recorded to make an accurate diagnosis.

Some reasons in the photo

Muscle spasm Vascular spasm Pathologically dilated vessel - aneurysm

There is also irradiation (transfer) of pain from the affected organ to the head. This happens, for example, with gastroduodenitis, when imperceptible pain signals are transmitted through synapses to the head, causing attacks of terrible headaches.

Unfortunately, headaches of this type are quite difficult to diagnose and require advanced clinical thinking from the attending physician.

In situations that are more understandable to a doctor, a headache can be a consequence of toothache and inflammatory diseases of the temporomandibular joint.

Pain due to intoxication or allergic reactions stands somewhat apart. In this case, decay products or autoimmune complexes irritate the surface of the brain vessels, and the receptors (with increased sensitivity) transmit these sensations as pain. This type of pain includes withdrawal pain (hangover) in men and women, as well as headaches due to malignant neoplasms.

Pain as a result of vasospasm is typical for men and women equally. The cause of vascular spasm can be anything: changes in atmospheric pressure, stress, increase/decrease in humidity, jumps in your own systolic and diastolic pressure, strong smells and sounds, even some colors.

If you constantly have pain, try to localize and remember the conditions for the occurrence of a particular event, i.e. record his aura (“aura” of a particular condition is a medical term in neurology).

Knowledge of the signs that provoke pain will help the neurologist determine the diagnosis and treatment method.

With age, headaches of all types (except estrogen headaches) manifest themselves more intensely.

Migraine is a terrible enemy of women's health

Individual structural features of the cerebral vessel wall, plus increased sensitivity of baroreceptors, are the main cause of migraines in women (men suffer from this type of pain much less often). A true migraine manifests itself as a throbbing pain in part of the head (one of the halves, as a rule).

The pain can be so severe that vomiting, photophobia and sound sensitivity can be provoked. Pathological changes in the nervous system are formed, since even the slightest irritant can lead to painful attacks of headache.

This type of pain most often occurs in young women. As a rule, the tendency to migraines is inherited.

Psychogenic headaches in women

They occur with constant mental tension, stress and intense brain work under difficult conditions. They develop against a background of overload, constant anxiety, and depression. The nature of the pain is squeezing, squeezing. A woman feels a “helmet” or “hoop” symptom, as if something is squeezing her head from the outside.

This type of pain is quite amenable to therapy, incl. psychotherapy.

Organic disorders leading to the problem

A headache can occur due to very specific, “material” reasons:

• Pathology of the development of the neck, skull, paranasal sinuses, teeth (improper growth);
• cervical spine in combination with spasm of the neck muscles. In this case, the blood circulation of the brain is disrupted (part of the blood flowing through the paravertebral arterial vessels is blocked);
• Increased intracranial pressure and glaucoma.

“Hormonal” headaches in women

It is women of reproductive age who most often suffer from headaches. This is due to the sensitivity of brain vascular receptors to hormone fluctuations, which are common for premenopausal women. The pain can intensify at one time or another during the cycle, and the woman often knows exactly when and how the attack will develop. For some, pain begins during ovulation, for others - during menstruation. Still others indicate that the pain goes away with the onset of menstruation, etc.

The pain begins with the first menstruation, usually subsides during pregnancy and may disappear in the postmenopausal period.

In more rare cases, headaches (which did not bother you during the reproductive period) appear in postmenopause.

One thing is important - cyclically recurring headaches are associated with peak concentrations and “troughs” of estrogen and its metabolites, which can be compensated by an experienced gynecologist-endocrinologist.

According to statistics, three out of four residents of the United States and Europe of reproductive age have headaches and neck pain at least once a month. In Russia, this indicator is better, since hormonal contraceptives are used less and meat consumption (with hormone residues) is much lower. Every second representative of the fairer sex suffers from headaches.

Every seventh woman has headaches associated with hormonal fluctuations that are so intense that they interfere with normal social behavior and cause quarrels and conflicts in the family and society as a whole.

Interesting fact: sex is an excellent remedy for migraine-like pain in a woman, although the aura of a headache itself does not contribute to a romantic mood.

Types and associated symptoms of headaches that require immediate medical attention

Often a headache is a symptom of a vascular accident. It is necessary to be able to recognize and promptly transport the victim to a neurological hospital or vascular surgery.

Dangerous conditions manifested by headaches (photo)

Brain tumor Meningitis Stroke

Look out for the following signs:

• A severe attack of pain combined with a rise in temperature and stiffness in the neck. If at the same time it is difficult to bend the neck forward, meningitis can be assumed. The temperature may rise significantly (bacterial meningitis), or be low-grade (viral form of the disease). Similar symptoms occur with tick-borne meningitis;
• Increasing headache with deterioration of speech (symptoms can develop gradually), limbs and muscles on one side begin to go numb, double vision, the person begins to lose balance;

This is a pre-stroke condition, when it is still possible to prevent the stroke itself or minimize its consequences (with timely hospitalization). To verify the process, ask the patient to smile and raise both arms up - with a developing stroke, the smile will be crooked and the arms will be at different heights.

• A painful, burning headache - a mini-stroke. Requires immediate hospitalization. Similar pain sensations occur with hemorrhage in the subarachnoid space (arachnoid membrane of the brain). There is no time to understand anatomy - go with the patient to neurology;
• Pain in the temporal region, intensifying every day, accompanied by one or another deterioration of vision. Vascular brain tumors manifest themselves in a similar way.

In general, almost always these symptoms provide an opportunity to respond in time, but the fear of discovering a problem and the hope of “self-resolution” of the situation leads to delay, disability and death in many cases. Be courageous - respond to vascular threats immediately.

Attempts to suppress pain with this kind of anti-inflammatory drugs lead to loss of time and the development of side effects. For example, nonspecific anti-inflammatory drugs promote bleeding from stomach and duodenal ulcers and also increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke.