Sometimes doctors give their patients a tricky diagnosis of "cephalgia." What it is? What is the cause of this disease? Than it is caused? Can I get rid of it forever?
Definition of "cephalgia"
Very few people know the word "cephalgia" - this is the most common headache. According to statistics, it is tested at least once a year by nine people out of ten. In the world there is even an International Association dealing with the study of headaches and developed their classification (ICHB). Tsefalgiya in most cases is not considered an independent disease and is only a symptom of a pathology or a reaction of the body to external stimuli. To date, about 200 different forms of manifestation of headaches are known: from the localized only in a certain area of the head to the sensible in all its areas, in the neck and in the facial section; From weak, rapidly passing, to painful, lasting several days. There are no pain receptors in the nerve fibers of the brain, therefore cephalgia arises from the stimulus's influence not on the cerebral cortex, but on the receptors of the periosteum, eyes, mucous membranes, nasal sinuses, subcutaneous tissue, and also receptors located in the head or neck of blood vessels, muscles, Nerve tissues.
Classification
All headaches are divided into two types - primary and secondary. Secondary cephalalgia is a headache that occurs against a background of a disease, for example, a brain tumor. In rare cases, secondary cephalalgia is not dangerous - for example, if it caused the use of large doses of medications. Most often secondary headache is an alarming symptom. To get rid of it, you need to treat the underlying disease. Primary cephalgia is a tension headache, migraine, trigeminal neuralgia, cluster headache and hemicrania continuum. These headaches are caused most often by nervous overstrain or pressure changes. By pathogenesis, headaches are divided into neuralgic, vasomotor, muscle tension, liquorodynamic and mixed.
Vasomotor cephalgia: what is it?
Headache caused by changes in pressure in the blood vessels is called a vasomotor. For a number of symptoms, migraine also belongs to this type of cephalgia. It 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 strong pain sensations of a pulsating nature in a certain part of the head, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, dizziness. Sometimes the process affects the eye cavities, jaw or neck. With migraines, as a rule, there are no brain tumors and trauma to the skull. Vasomotor cephalgia, caused by increased blood pressure, may occur immediately after awakening or from great physical exertion. In hypertensive crisis, cephalgia is expressed by rather strong pain sensations and can reach seizures and confusion of consciousness. With a decrease in pressure, a vasomotor headache can begin when a person lies or his head is in a lowered state.
Tension headache
The most common are chronic (occurring regularly, more than 15 times per month) and episodic tension headaches. The syndrome of cephalalgia in this case is caused by excessive overstrain of the nervous system, as well as by individual psychological features of a person's character, his suspiciousness, "samoyedstvo", anxiety. With cephalal tension, the pain in any particular part of the head is not localized. It can be felt in the forehead, temples, in the nape of the neck. From donning a headdress, combing, bright light, loud or sharp sounds, smells, it can intensify. Patients often experience nausea and vomiting. As a rule, such a headache is removed with analgesics.
Likvorodinamicheskie headaches
Lykvorodinamicheskaya cephalgia - a headache caused by a change in intracranial pressure. Its increase is caused by edema and brain tumors, craniocerebral trauma, hemorrhage and other diseases. The character of the pain in this case is bursting, increasing with an uncomfortable position of the head and is accompanied by vomiting, and in some cases - loss of consciousness. Decrease in intracranial pressure occurs when the integrity of the skull bones and meninges is broken, when some medicines are overdosed, with the loss of cerebrospinal fluid. The syndrome of cephalalgia in such cases is manifested by drainage pains that increase during movement and in an upright position. As a rule, it is monotonous, but lasting.
Diagnosis and treatment
If the headache is primary, it does not occur often and quickly passes after taking an analgesic or without treatment at all, it is not necessary to conduct any examinations. With such pains, it is recommended to keep records in which it is necessary to record the time of their appearance, the presumable cause (undernourished, overtired and so on). So you can understand and eliminate the cause of their occurrence. However, simple observation is impossible to find out if the patient has persistent cephalalgia. What it is? Cases when the head hurts regularly, the pain syndrome is above the moderate, long does not pass, it is heavily removed by analgesics and is accompanied by complications. They require clinical examinations, which include pressure measurement, examination of the fundus, electroencephalography, head tomography, and sometimes even lumbar puncture. The treatment of such headaches should be based on eliminating the cause that causes them. In some cases, surgical intervention is necessary. If cephalalgia is not associated with the underlying disease, a good effect is provided by preventive measures. They consist of massage courses, acupuncture, manual therapy, balanced nutrition, proper day regimen, regular performance of respiratory gymnastics, and rejection of bad habits.