Many headaches go away without treatment, but some have more serious causes. Anyone who is worried about pain in the back of their head should seek medical advice. If there is an underlying cause that needs addressing, it is better to do so as soon as possible.
Tension headaches are the most common cause of pain in the back of the head. They can last for 30 minutes to 7 days. Severe stress, fatigue, lack of sleep, skipping meals, poor body posture, or not drinking enough water may cause these types of headaches.
Headaches that get steadily worse. Changes in personality or mental function. Headaches that are accompanied by fever, stiff neck, confusion, decreased alertness or memory, or neurological symptoms such as visual disturbances, slurred speech, weakness, numbness, or seizures.
Seek immediate medical attention if a headache: Comes on suddenly and very quickly becomes severe. Feels like the worst headache in your life. Is accompanied by a stiff neck and/or fever.
Other symptoms of brain tumors include severe nausea, vomiting, seizures, personality changes, difficulties with speech, muscle weakness, vision or hearing loss, and problems with learning or memory. Early detection of brain tumors requires understanding and recognition of the above symptoms.
Many headaches go away without treatment, but some have more serious causes. Anyone who is worried about pain in the back of their head should seek medical advice. If there is an underlying cause that needs addressing, it is better to do so as soon as possible.
Your headache comes on suddenly and is explosive or violent. Your headache is "the worst ever," even if you regularly get headaches. You also have slurred speech, a change in vision, problems moving your arms or legs, loss of balance, confusion, or memory loss with your headache. Your headache gets worse over 24 hours.
If your headache persists for longer than 72 hours, you should see a doctor as soon as possible. The same is true for headaches that come and go but continuously occur in the same spot.
Pain in the back of the head can be caused by many things. These include primary headaches which occur on their own without an underlying cause and secondary headaches which are symptoms of an underlying disease or condition. Nerve injury can also lead to back-of-the-head pain.
For example, a blocked carotid artery can cause a headache on the forehead, while a blockage towards the back of the brain can cause a headache towards the back of the head. This ultimately means that there is not one headache location that signals a stroke, since they can occur anywhere on the head.
Symptoms of a ruptured brain aneurysm usually begin with a sudden agonising headache. It's been likened to being hit on the head, resulting in a blinding pain unlike anything experienced before. Other symptoms of a ruptured brain aneurysm also tend to come on suddenly and may include: feeling or being sick.
That said, more often than not, a headache will be nothing to worry about, and if the pain is specifically at the base of the skull you are almost definitely dealing with a tension headache.
Depending on where you feel pain, the headache location usually determines what kind of headache you have: Tension headache: Both sides of your head or a band around your head. Migraine headache or hormonal headache: One side of your head. Cluster headache: One side of your head, specifically in or around your eye.
However, brain tumors cause a specific type of headache that is different than migraine or tension-type headaches. Headaches due to a brain tumor have the following characteristics: unusually severe or persistent, especially in people with no history of severe or chronic headaches. more painful or intense in the ...
In fact, a headache can be an early warning sign of more complicated and serious health issues such as stroke, infection, or high blood pressure.
Cervicogenic Headache Symptoms
A cervicogenic headache presents as a steady, non-throbbing pain at the back and base of the skull, sometimes extending downward into the neck and between the shoulder blades.
Seek emergency care if:
Headache medication does not relieve chronic or excruciating pain. Head pain prevents eating or drinking, making one susceptible to dehydration or malnutrition. You experience major side effects to medication, such as severe drowsiness, sedation or nausea and vomiting.
What are the early symptoms of a brain tumor? Brain tumors can cause physical and mental symptoms, including headaches and mood changes. The symptoms can differ depending on the type, location, and stage of the tumor.
Magnetic resonance imaging, also called MRI, uses strong magnets to create pictures of the inside of the body. MRI is often used to detect brain tumors because it shows the brain more clearly than do other imaging tests.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans are used most often to look for brain diseases. These scans will almost always show a brain tumor, if one is present.