The so-called headache caused by the brain is that something grows in the brain, such as a brain tumor or cerebral hemorrhage. This situation is more serious and requires surgery, but the proportion of this headache is very small. Tension headache and migraine are the two most common headaches caused outside the brain, and more than 90% of headache patients are caused by these two situations.
Headache caused outside the brain is a simple problem, mainly due to dysfunction caused by external influences, rather than brain parenchymal lesions.
◎ Brain tumor or cerebral hemorrhage:
This type of headache is characterized by more and more pain every day, especially in the morning, taking painkillers has no effect, because the brain pressure is the highest at this time, and symptoms of nausea and vomiting will appear. With the deterioration of the disease, there will be neurological defects, such as weakness, numbness, unstable walking and so on.
Tension headache:
Tension headache is characterized by tense muscles in the head, especially the muscles in the temporal lobe (near the temple) and the neck, which feels like the Monkey King wearing a spell. The causes of tension headache are generally related to work stress and lack of sleep.
Migraine:
This type of headache is characterized by a pumping sensation in one temple, which is similar to heart beating, and some patients have pain in both temples.
The main cause of migraine is the abnormal contraction and expansion of blood vessels, which makes the brain feel oppressive, and the contraction and expansion of blood vessels are basically related to the autonomic nervous system. Migraine is not a brain problem, but a kind of dysfunction, including: lack of sleep, weather change, before and after menstruation, personal condition (nervous or impulsive mood), irritating diet (including red wine, cheese, chocolate, monosodium glutamate, caffeinated drinks and onions). More than two-thirds of migraine patients are women, mainly because women's emotional control is unstable and prone to anger, anxiety, impulsiveness and other symptoms. The study also found that migraine is especially common among women aged 10 to 40, which is closely related to busy work, family pressure and menstrual cycle.
Some migraine patients will have visual signs before the attack, such as seeing flashes or dark shadows, hallucinating, and abnormal sense of smell. Some patients will temporarily feel numb on one side of their body or face. During the attack, migraine sufferers will feel severe headache in the head. Severe cases will be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, fear of light and noise. Mild activity can also aggravate headaches. The degree of pain during the attack is related to personal physique and mood at that time. If the patient doesn't sleep well for several days, the headache will be more serious. Migraine attacks usually last for more than 4 hours, even for several days, which varies greatly among individuals.
Patients with headache should go to the neurology department of a big hospital for examination to rule out whether the headache is caused by brain lesions. The doctor will first check the patient's neurological function to see if it is defective. Neurological function examination is a simple action test. If necessary, the doctor will also arrange for the patient to have a brain wave examination.