Top 6 Dangerous Headaches That Should Send You Straight To The Doctor

stress and headache

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4. Headaches After Injuries

If you had a head injury and then have a headache later, you need to seek medical attention immediately. This type of headache might mean you have had a concussion. Even small head injuries should be checked out by the doctor as they can cause bleeding in the brain, resulting in skull pressure, which you feel as a headache.

 

SEE ALSO: 10 Types of Headaches and What to do About Them

 

5. Sudden Headaches

Most headaches come on slowly, over a period of a few hours, but headaches that come on suddenly, especially when they are accompanied by weakness in the face, arms, or legs; numbness on one side of the body; have difficulty speaking; feel a loss of balance, or if you have double vision or tunnel vision, you should go to the emergency room immediately. This can indicate a stroke or heart attack.

 

6. Unusual Headaches

These are hard to describe, as everyone experiences different types of headaches, but if you should get a headache that is very unlike any other headache you have ever had, you should see your doctor. Unusual headaches might include things like:

  • A headache so severe you cannot perform your normal daily tasks
  • Headaches that change in location, frequency, or severity
  • Headaches accompanied with seizures
  • Headaches that become more frequent and severe over time
  • Headaches that include shortness of breath and sweating
  • Headaches that include speech and vision difficulties
  • Headaches that come with vomiting, nausea, and/or fever
  • Headaches after lifting weights, jogging, or after sex
  • Headaches that leave you with memory problems, confusion, balance problems, and/or the inability to move your arms or legs

When you think about it, it’s even strange that we have headaches at all. Since our brain has no nerves, how can it feel pain? Scientists think that it’s not so much the brain itself that feels pain, but the surrounding tissues, blood vessels, brain chemicals, and nerves in these tissues that send pain signals to the brain.

If you should experience any of these types of headaches, do not wait. See your doctor ASAP or go to the emergency room.

References:

Ninds.nih.gov

Health.com

Webmd.com

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