Things You Need Should Know About Headaches

Summer season is coming up, and you need to prepare amply for outdoor activities. While everything else matters, your primary concern should be your general health, ensuring you remain healthy as you enjoy the different seasons. You have to lay forth preventive measures to prevent the need for health emergencies. Even if they were to happen, still, you should see to it that you can easily access Houston emergency rooms for your condition, including headaches.

Headaches are pains experienced in the head, affecting either one portion of your head or the entire head. While headaches are common, they can be severe, so you should not take them lightly.

Headaches Types

Everyone gets a headache at a point in life. However, headaches vary in intensity and root cause. Such discrepancies translate to different types of headaches, including the following:

1. Tension headaches – are perhaps the most common types. The dull aching sensation may spread out all over your head.
2. Cluster headaches – affect the area around your eye. You are likely to feel a sharp and burning pain being one eye at a time. The headaches happen in clusters so that it is possible to have up to four headaches in one day.
3. Migraines – are typically one-sided aches that emanate deep from your head, lasting for several days. The pains are intense enough to limit you from going about your daily life activities. Migraines can run in families and be linked to other conditions of the nervous system.
4. Hemicrania continua – is a type of headache that goes on for several weeks. Although these headaches are moderate, they can prolong for at least three months, causing other symptoms that will destabilize your health and comfort.
5. Withdrawal headaches – occur when you stop taking a stimulant that you are used to taking. The most common one is caffeine withdrawal, common among people who take coffee every day. A headache is a sign that your brain is demanding the stimulant it is fond of since it affects the brain chemistry.
6. Thunderclap headaches – are among the severe headaches you may experience. They escalate in intensity in a short period, reaching optimal severity and intensity in less than a minute. These headaches require urgent care in an ER for headaches as they can indicate a severe underlying problem.

​Headaches Symptoms

Headaches are pretty easy to identify, making them very common globally. However, depending on the type of headache you have, symptoms will vary, some more severe than others. The worse your symptoms are, the more likely you need urgent care in an ER near you. Some symptoms of headaches include the following:

1. Sharp or throbbing pain in your head
2. Pain in your eyes – causing immense discomfort when opening the eyes.
3. Teary, reddened, and itchy eyes
4. Stiff neck
5. Loss of balance
6. Sensitivity to light and blind spots
7. Fever
8. Body weakness, muscle aches, and fatigue
9. Nausea and vomiting

​Headaches Causes

Many factors can trigger aches and pains in your head. Depending on the type of headache, the triggers are different. The common causes of headaches are:

1. ​Dehydration
2. Sleep deprivation for prolonged periods – or having disrupted sleeping patterns.
3. A cold or flu
4. Hormonal fluctuations – particularly for women during menstrual periods, pregnancy, or menopause.
5. Stress and anxiety
6. Skipping meals – especially during intermittent fasting.
7. Head trauma – through accident and injuries.

​Headaches Treatment

​As soon as it is clear the symptoms you are exhibiting are caused by your headache, you are ready to seek headache treatment near you. Seeking treatment at Memorial Heights Emergency Center for severe and prolonged headaches is crucial to help manage and mitigate other health problems you have. Besides, some causes of headaches can cause permanent damages to your system. Some treatment options for headaches are:

1. Over-the-counter pain relievers
2. Triptans – medication for reducing inflammation and improving oxygen and blood flow in your brain.
3. Antihistamines
4. Dietary changes
5. Surgery – especially after head injuries
6. Managing stress and anxiety

​Summary

Be very cautious about how you spend your time during the summer season. Any outdoors activities like swimming can expose you to triggers of headaches. Besides, falls and slips can lead to head traumas that necessitate urgent care at an ER for headaches.