Medicine has several dozen types of headaches, radically different for their reasons.
Every person is familiar with this symptom. Why does the right side of the head hurt, no one usually thinks, especially if such cases are rare. But when the unpleasant sensations are so disturbing that they interfere with normal life, supplemented by tinnitus, pain in the eyes or tearing, the question of a visit to the doctor for the diagnosis of the disease is acute.
Particular attention should be paid to headaches localized on one side. Ignoring such symptoms can lead to the development or transition to the chronic stage of a serious illness. What headache is considered an independent disease, and which is a symptom of another disease, we will tell in more detail.
The main reasons why the right side of the head hurts
Migraine
This disease is necessarily manifested by pain on one side of the head. From the ancient Greek "hemicrania" the term translates as "half the head." In this case, the patient has periodic attacks with different frequencies - usually no more than eight attacks every month. Pain on both sides of a migraine is uncharacteristic.
Migraine is considered a genetically determined disease, and not only women suffer from it, but more often - men.
Migraine can be without aura, usually manifested by severe shooting pain in the right side of the head, turning into a pulsating, lasts from four hours to several days. The condition is often supplemented by photophobia and nausea.
Less often with migraine, an aura preceding an attack occurs - concentration is disturbed, it becomes cloudy in the eyes and auditory or visual hallucinations appear. After an aura, a headache appears on one side for several hours.
Unfortunately, today it is not possible to completely get rid of migraines. Doctors can only reduce the duration and frequency of attacks with the help of a complex of medicines.
Stress pains (tension headaches)
These are the most common cases of headache, manifested by moderate pain syndrome. The pain is dull, squeezing, may be in the center of the forehead or on the sides, worse in the evening. Such a violation occurs in episodic form, only three percent of patients pass into chronic form. In addition to the pain itself of varying intensity, sleep disturbance, chronic fatigue or increased sensitivity to sounds can occur.
As a rule, it is not possible to determine the cause of the tensional pain.
Cluster headaches
Sudden episodic pains on one side of the head in front of it, near the eye. The pain is acute, manifested as the tension of one of the segments of the head, and shooting, bursting with pain in the eyes. It can be so strong that it interferes with normal life.
Concomitant symptoms:
• redness of the eyes;
• tear;
• runny nose;
• Redout.
The main difference between cluster pain is periodicity. The frequency and duration of the attack is different. The pain can last from 15 minutes to 1 hour, occurring at the same time of the day or night, at regular intervals - after a week, month or year. Passes as abruptly as it appears.
The vast majority of patients are men (about 80 percent). Standard painkillers in this case are powerless with prolonged seizures, patients are prescribed oxygen therapy, or medications at the discretion of the doctor.
Injury, concussion
A sharp throbbing headache on one side is a frequent manifestation of contact trauma to the cervical spine or head. Damage can be almost invisible to the patient and does not appear immediately. Additionally, tinnitus, dizziness, severe weakness and vomiting may occur. Deteriorating condition when making sudden movements.
Diseases of the cervical and dorsal spine
In this case, the pain will be localized from the left or right side of the head behind, near the neck. The nature of the pain is aching and dull, can acutely react even to a soft touch and increase when turning the head or neck movements. Mostly, people over the age of 35 suffer from this ailment, as well as leading a sedentary lifestyle.
Intracranial bleeding
A hematoma inside the skull develops after bleeding from a damaged vessel. As a rule, this is caused by trauma, but it can also manifest as a result of a congenital defect or severe thinning of the vessel walls. An increase in hematoma volume leads to an increase in intracranial pressure.
Intracranial bleeding manifests itself very quickly, the symptoms develop on an increasing basis. There is a sharp shooting pain on one side of the head (in the temporal zone), lethargy, bradycardia, confusion, vomiting and convulsions.
Oral diseases
Often, pain on the right side of the head provokes pathological processes in the oral cavity. It manifests itself in sharp, shooting pain, often in the temples, in pain. Analgesics bring temporary relief, but as soon as the pill stops acting, the discomfort resumes.
Tonsillitis, sinusitis
In acute angina and any manifestations of chronic sinusitis, sharp, shooting pain can concentrate from any side. Caused by swelling and irritation of nerve endings.
Kosten's Syndrome
So called pathology of the temporomandibular joint. It is caused by a joint injury, a number of infectious diseases, gout, rheumatism and other causes. It manifests itself as pain on one side of the head, in the sinuses and in the ear, dry mouth and burning on the tongue. An X-ray is used to make a diagnosis.
Brain tumor
Not necessarily malignant, a neoplasm in the brain can cause a person a headache and other serious problems, including a life threat. Unpleasant sensations are caused, as a rule, not by the tumor itself, but by an increase in intracranial pressure. At first, the right side of the head hurts in the morning, the nature of the pain is dull, shooting or bursting.
Concomitant symptoms:
• vomiting;
• dizziness;
• sudden weight loss;
• epileptic seizures;
• personality changes.
Symptoms worsen in a state of stress and nervous experiences.
Stress and protracted depression
Strong psychological experiences, stress, anxiety and depression, often lead to psychogenic pain. Her character is dull, aching, accompanied by irritability and a feeling of fatigue. Removing the psycho-emotional problem is the only effective method of completely eliminating such pain.
Temporal arteritis
Autoimmune disease, inflammation of the medium and large arteries, the detection of which requires urgent, emergency treatment. Temporal arteritis usually occurs in people over 50 years of age and is manifested by severe headaches with insomnia, redness of the scalp and a depressed state.
In the absence of appropriate treatment leads to complete loss of vision.
Eye strain
Long work at the computer, knitting or reading in low light or other eye strain can provoke pain on the right side of the head. In this case, it is enough to regularly distract the eye from the object, relaxing the eye muscle. The best exercise will be gymnastics for the eyes.
Myositis
When the right side of the head hurts in the back, this may mean that the patient is "blown up" and the neck muscles are inflamed. Myositis is provoked by both injuries and hypothermia (drafts). The pain in this case is aching, begins with discomfort in the neck, spreading to the scalp.
After examination and confirmation of the diagnosis, complete rest and warming are prescribed. If there is no result, then non-steroidal anti-inflammatory or hormonal injections (blockages) are used to improve mobility.
What diagnostic methods are used if the right side of the head hurts
In order to diagnose the source of headache, depending on additional symptoms and anamnesis, the doctor uses different diagnostic methods in each case.
It often happens that they try to remove the "usual" headache with painkillers, without trying to find the cause, the disease itself, which in a fairly short time without treatment turns into a difficult to treat chronic form.
A blood test is often sufficient for diagnosis, but more serious methods are also required - CT, MRI, ultrasound, ECG, hormonal examination - it all depends on the preliminary diagnosis.
The right side of the head hurts: the treatment is completely dependent on the diagnosis
Headache in some cases disappears by itself. But many impaired functioning of the body provoke relapses and increased pain, and such diseases need to be treated accordingly.
Treatment of the main causes of pain on the right side of the head:
• tensional pains - painkillers and increased mobility are needed;
• osteochondrosis - is caused in most cases by immobility, therefore, physiotherapy and massage of the cervical spine are needed, to relieve acute pain, take a horizontal position and use NSAIDs and warming ointments;
• brain concussion - bed rest, painkillers and a cold compress to reduce pain and prevent hematoma;
• Kosten syndrome - prosthetics and bite correction;
• intracranial bleeding - removal of the hematoma from the cranium and diagnosis of the cause of bleeding to prevent relapse (if the rupture of the vessel caused no injury, then the cause may be in the circulatory system);
• diseases of the oral cavity - treatment by a dentist (orthodontist), as the right side of the head may be ill due to malocclusion or other dental pathology;
• for pain caused by ENT diseases, early treatment of the underlying disease is required;
• tumor pains are treated by removing and cleansing the blood — by electro- and radiocoagulation, by surgery or by laser excision, chemotherapy;
• temporal arteritis - steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, consultation with an ophthalmologist;
• stress - full relaxation, auto-training, breathing exercises and other relaxing techniques, and in the absence of effect - consultation of a psychologist or psychotherapist.
Modern painkillers can relieve almost any headache, but we must not forget that if the symptom recurs, it can be a malfunction in the body. A visit to the doctor in this case is required.
Is it possible to avoid the question “Why does the right side of the head hurt?”, Does prevention exist?
Based on the above causes of headache, it is possible to determine preventive measures in the form of moderate physical activity and good rest. But timely access to medical help if the right side of the head hurts is the main prevention of the progression of a dangerous disease.
