Acupuncture Doctor Cautions
Do Not Ignore Your Headache Pain
In acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, your headache pain requires careful evaluation by a doctor even though it is an extremely common symptom.Here’s why… Careful evaluation is important because a small fraction of headache arise from life-threatening conditions or brain disease. Could your headache belong that small fraction? So the earlier a serious illness is detected, the better it will be for you. Headache that is changing in nature or getting progressively severe requires further investigation. It can indicate the likelihood of a tumour, abscess or other mass lesion being present. Extremely severe headaches can suggest subarachnoid haemorrhage or meningitis. Subarachnoid haemorrhage headache has been described as “the worst headache of my life”. It manifests as a very sudden headache that may or may not be localised but includes other symptoms such as vomiting and neck stiffness. Patients over the age of 60 years old with head pain localised to one or both temples can indicate giant cell arteritis, especially if the temporal pulses are not palpable and-or the arteries are enlarged and tender. And you may want to be aware of this too… Headache of raised intracranial pressureBelow are some key points to know: - Worse in the morning, improves through the day
- Associated with morning vomiting
- Worse when bending forward
- Worse with cough and straining
- Relieved by analgesia
- Dull ache, often mild
Back to Migraine and Other Headaches
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