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Chronic headaches are a common problem for many people, of all ages, and increasingly among young people. Chronic headaches have a significant impact on daily life. Most headaches are not dangerous, but a few need to be monitored and treated.
1. Chronic headache
Headache is pain in the head, upper neck and back of the neck, which can be localized on one side or diffuse. Chronic headache can be a migraine, is a very common symptom, about 90% of the population presents with headache at least once a year, of which severe headache accounts for about 1 %. In many cases, persistent headaches can be just the result of psychological stress.
Headache can be a symptom of unknown cause or several causes that are often overlooked. Some of the common causes of headaches are fatigue, lack of sleep, overwork, anxiety, stress and the use of certain medications or personal daily habits.
A headache is called an emergency when there are symptoms such as:
Sudden severe headache with stiffness in the neck Headache with high fever, confusion, convulsions or loss of consciousness Post-impact headache accompanied eye pain, ear pain, persistent headache in patients with no particular history of headache, persistent headache in children, vasomotor headache, with new onset of more severe headaches in patients with a history of headache, accompanied by other unusual symptoms such as numbness in the limbs, blurred vision, forgetfulness or even fainting.
2. Causes of Chronic Headaches
There are many causes of chronic headaches. Headaches are divided into three groups: primary headaches, secondary headaches, and cranial nerve pain, facial nerve pain, and other headaches.
2.1 Primary headache Primary headache often has no known cause, but favorable conditions cause headaches such as emotional disturbances, endocrine disorders, cerebrovascular disorders, stress. Primary headache group includes: migraine headache, tension headache, cluster headache:
Migraine headache, also known as vasomotor migraine, is migraine with unknown cause, manifested by cerebral vasomotor disorders. It is more common in women than men with a ratio of 3:1, especially young people who are working. Migraine headaches can be related to the menstrual cycle in women, occurring two days before menstruation or at the end of the menstrual cycle. Tension headaches are the most common type of headache commonly experienced by men and are related to stress. Cluster headaches usually occur in the fovea, on one side of the eye socket, or in the temporal region. If left untreated, a headache lasting 15 to 180 minutes may be accompanied by conjunctival irritation, unilateral runny nose, lacrimation, eyelid edema, and sweating.
2.2 Secondary headache Secondary headaches are often caused by head trauma with cerebral hematoma, traumatic brain injury, subdural hematoma, or spinal fracture or cervical vertebra that compresses the cervical spinal cord. The disease recovers quickly if diagnosed and surgical intervention is early.
In addition, secondary headaches are also caused by overuse of pain relievers, encountered in cases where patients take drugs not as directed by their doctors, leading to headaches. Headaches due to various organ diseases such as sinusitis , headache , refractive errors in the eyes . Even headaches caused by mental disorders, headaches caused by epilepsy.
2.3 Risk factors Factors that increase the risk of chronic headaches such as:
Women Anxiety Sleep disorders Obesity Snoring Depression Abuse of caffeine, headache medications Chronic headaches have a significant impact on life quality. To reduce the recurrence of chronic headaches, patients need to change their living habits and lead a healthy lifestyle. When you see unusual signs accompanying or the headache increases, immediately go to a medical facility for examination and an appropriate treatment plan.
Vinmec International General Hospital is one of the hospitals that not only ensures professional quality with a team of leading medical doctors, modern equipment and technology, but also stands out for its examination and consultation services. comprehensive and professional medical consultation and treatment; civilized, polite, safe and sterile medical examination and treatment space.
Customers can directly go to Vinmec Health system nationwide to visit or contact the hotline here for support.
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