Sometimes doctors give their patients a tricky diagnosis of "cephalgia". What it is? What is the cause of this disease? What caused it? Is it possible to get rid of it 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 and Classification of Headaches (ICGB) in the world.
Cephalgia in most cases is not considered an independent disease and is only a symptom of some pathology or the body's response 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 region; from weak, quickly passing, to painful, lasting several days. There are no pain receptors in the nerve fibers of the brain, so cephalgia arises fromthe impact of the stimulus not on the cerebral cortex, but on the receptors of the periosteum, eyes, mucous membranes, nasal sinuses, subcutaneous tissue, as well as on the receptors located in the head or neck of blood vessels, muscles, and nerve tissues.
Classification
All headaches are divided into two types - primary and secondary. Secondary cephalgia is a headache that occurs against the background of a disease, such as a brain tumor.
In rare cases, secondary cephalgia is not dangerous - for example, if it was caused by the use of large doses of drugs. Most often, a 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 continua hemicrania. These headaches are most often caused by nervous tension or pressure changes. According to the pathogenesis, headaches are divided into neuralgic, vasomotor, muscle tension, liquorodynamic and mixed.
Vasomotor cephalgia: what is it
Headache caused by a change in pressure in the blood vessels is called vasomotor. According to a number of features, migraine also belongs to this type of cephalalgia. This is a neurological disease that can be inherited.
Migraine is caused by psychological overstrain, weather conditions, stress, the use of certain types of foods (cheese, nuts, seafood)or drinks (champagne, beer), fatigue, lack of sleep. Migraines are characterized by severe pain sensations of a pulsating nature 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 increased blood pressure can occur immediately after waking up or from strenuous exercise. In a hypertensive crisis, cephalalgia is expressed by rather strong pain sensations and can reach seizures and confusion. With a decrease in pressure, a vasomotor headache can begin when a person lies down 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-type 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", anxiety. With tension cephalgia, pain in any particular area of \u200b\u200bthe head is not localized. It can be felt in the forehead, temples, in the back of the head. From putting on a hat, combing, bright light, loud or sharp sounds, smells, it can intensify. Patients often experience nausea and vomiting. As a rule, such a headache is relievedanalgesics.
Liquorodynamic headaches
Liquorodynamic cephalgia is a headache caused by changes in intracranial pressure. Its increase is caused by edema and brain tumors, traumatic brain injuries, hemorrhage and other diseases.
The nature of the pain in this case is arching, aggravated by 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 disturbed, with an overdose of certain drugs, with loss of cerebrospinal fluid. The syndrome of cephalgia in such cases is manifested by drainage pains, aggravated by movement and in an upright position. As a rule, it is monotonous, but long.
Diagnosis and treatment
If the headache is primary, occurs infrequently, and resolves quickly after taking an analgesic or without treatment at all, no testing is required. With such pains, it is recommended to keep records in which you need to record the time of their appearance, the alleged cause (lack of sleep, overtired, and so on). So you can understand and eliminate the cause of their occurrence. However, it is impossible to determine the cause by simple observation if the patient has persistent cephalgia. What it is? Cases when the head hurts regularly, the pain syndrome is above moderate, does not go away for a long time, is difficult to remove with analgesics and is accompanied by complications. They require clinicalexaminations, 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 in massage courses, acupuncture, manual therapy, a balanced diet, proper daily routine, regular breathing exercises and giving up bad habits.
