What diseases are preceded by headaches with dizziness?

Dizziness and headaches are symptoms and not independent illnesses, as one might assume. The first symptom occurs when the brain does not have a clear idea of ​​the orientation and position of the body in space; the second is a consequence of circulatory disorders and muscle tension. Approximately every 10th person encounters them. Pain and dizziness are most common in people over 65 years of age. Dizziness is the 2nd most common symptom (after headache) that brings a person to the doctor. This is not surprising since both manifestations occur in more than 100 diseases.

Main symptoms

Cephalgia can be primary or secondary:

• The primary form is not accompanied by another disease. It includes migraine, pain of a pulsating nature, one-sided (most often the forehead, eye area, and temple hurt). The attack is accompanied by visual disturbances, mild intolerance to light, noise, smells, and sometimes vomiting. Another type is tension cephalalgia, a pressing pain in the head accompanied by tension in the muscles of the head and neck. An attack can be caused by stress, long work on the computer, dehydration, weather, fatigue.
• The secondary form is a symptom of another disease. These pains can have different causes. They vary in location, intensity, frequency, and severity.

First aid for dizziness

Sometimes an attack of dizziness can occur suddenly, against the background of seemingly complete well-being. This situation requires immediate action, because with severe dizziness, a lack of coordination may occur with possible loss of consciousness.

First aid algorithm:

1. It is necessary to take a horizontal position of the body (or find a support to lean against).
2. It is forbidden to be nervous, as this can aggravate the condition (dizziness is not life-threatening).
3. If possible, ask people for support so that they call an ambulance (if the attack occurred on the street).
4. Don't close your eyes, concentrate on one thing.

When an attack is caused by changes in blood pressure against the background of vasospasm, its duration can range from 2-3 minutes to several hours.

Before specialists arrive, you should follow the following tips:

• place the patient on a hard surface;
• put a cushion under your feet;
• release tight clothing;
• provide a flow of fresh air;
• massage your temples with your fingertips;
• give sedatives to drink.

Causes of illness

Causes of primary headaches:

• migraine;
• voltage;
• physical (including sexual) activity;
• trigeminal autonomic cephalgia.

Causes of secondary headaches:

• fatigue, insomnia, stress, menopause, premenstrual syndrome;
• neuralgia (impairment of the pain control system);
• disorders of the circulatory system, especially blood supply to the brain, hypertension;
• poor posture, difference in leg lengths, scoliosis, spinal overload, cervical spine disorders;
• food allergies, histamine intolerance;
• inflammation of the middle ear;
• cerebral hemorrhage, stroke, cerebral vein thrombosis;
• kidney diseases;
• inflammation of the jaw and teeth;
• eye diseases;
• sunstroke, sunburn;
• infectious diseases;
• diseases, inflammation of the upper respiratory tract;
• head injuries;
• cerebral edema;
• meningitis, meningoencephalitis;
• glaucoma;
• sleep apnea syndrome;
• cancer;
• excessive use of analgesics;
• undesirable effect from drugs and vaccines.

Stress

This condition concerns every modern person. Stress is caused by hard work, constant noise... Stress cannot be avoided, but it can be mitigated. It is important to learn to relax, find out which situation is the most stressful, try to minimize its impact, or at least change your attitude towards the problem.

Eye fatigue

Farsightedness (hyperopia), in which eye strain causes severe discomfort, is often responsible for the condition where headaches and dizziness appear almost daily. Do you feel pain on top of your head and in the eye area that occurs when reading or working at a computer for a long time? The biggest problem is that many people are farsighted without knowing it, thanks to the efficient accommodation of the eyes. However, constant effort or tension is the main reason why headaches and dizziness often occur.

Hypertension

With high blood pressure, dizziness and pain in the back of the head are caused by vasoconstriction and excessive blood flow, which paradoxically causes a lack of blood supply to the brain. If you feel dizzy but nothing hurts, be aware of the possibility of high blood pressure. Dizziness is a kind of alarm signal.

Important! Untreated hypertension can result in bleeding in the brain.

Pathological causes

Some pains can be very dangerous, signaling bleeding in the brain or even the presence of a tumor.

Brain tumor

The most serious is pain caused by brain tumors. With intracranial tumors, cephalalgia occurs in 60% of cases. It often represents the first symptom of tumors of the pituitary gland and cerebellum. Pain is rarely observed in slow-growing tumors located in asymptomatic areas (especially the frontal lobes). In particular, meningiomas are clinically “silent” for a long time.

Most often, the pain is of a tension-type nature, less often it imitates a migraine. In the case of frontal localization of tumors, progressive changes in personality, behavior, apathy, and fatigue are recorded. Sometimes the first symptom is an epileptic seizure. Depending on the location, as well as the possibility of pressure transfer to distant structures, neurological signs and/or increased symptoms of intracranial hypertension appear.

Vascular pathologies

The most risky cerebral vascular disease is subarachnoid hemorrhage. We are talking about bleeding from an aneurysm of one of the cerebral arteries into the cavity spaces. The patient feels nauseous, chills, has pain and is dizzy.

Infectious lesions of the central nervous system

Inflammation of the nervous system is a relatively common neurological disorder. Depending on the location of the lesion, diseases are divided into:

• inflammation of the brain (encephalitis);
• inflammation of the meninges (meningitis);
• inflammation of the spinal cord (myelitis).

Important! Damage to the nerve endings is called radiculitis, and damage to the nerves is called neuritis. These diseases can be combined in various ways.

Head injuries

This is a large and very diverse group. The increase in the number of head and cervical spine injuries is explained by civilizational factors: 45% of injuries are due to road accidents, 30% to falls, 20% to work and sports injuries.

Each brain reacts differently after injury. Even after a concussion, my brain hurts and feels dizzy every day.

The nature of the pain varies. It is accompanied by other symptoms such as:

• nausea;
• dizziness;
• blurred or double vision;
• photophobia;
• tinnitus;
• hearing impairment;
• increased sensitivity;
• anxiety;
• depression;
• fatigue;
• sleep disorders;
• decreased libido.

The most common chronic headache is the tension type.

Vegetative pathologies

The autonomic nerves themselves rarely cause serious problems, but one of them is very common. This is a type of dizziness called vasovagal syncope. The symptoms occur due to a decrease in blood pressure and blood supply to the brain.

Osteochondrosis

The fact that the head hurts and feels dizzy due to disorders of the cervical spine can be identified by the type of pain - it usually radiates to the eye area. The back of the head often hurts from the spine, symptoms also include tingling in the arms, and swelling (swelling) of swelling is not uncommon.

Symptoms

When this condition occurs, people may experience a feeling of heavy head along with the presence of weakness. In this case, visiting a doctor is considered mandatory. Most often, symptoms are associated with problems in the cervical spine. In this case, people may seem lost for a few seconds or feel a tingling sensation on the skin.

Strange sensations in the head may occur with cervical osteochondrosis. It is worth noting that the exacerbation of this pathology is provoked by an increase in intracranial pressure. Degenerative changes in the vertebral discs in people increase greatly with age; as part of the movement, the nerve roots can become pinched. To prevent pain, they try to keep the neck in a special condition.

Statics worsens blood flow, instability of metabolic processes provokes oxygen starvation in the brain, and therefore complaints arise that an incomprehensible sensation constantly arises in the head, it becomes cottony, making it difficult to concentrate. “Fog in the head” is exactly what people say when their coordination of movements is impaired.

What to do when your head hurts and feels dizzy

First of all, these signs should not be underestimated. It is necessary to visit a doctor who, if necessary, will refer the patient to an ENT specialist or neurologist. If your head begins to hurt and feel dizzy suddenly, sharply, discomfort is accompanied by vomiting, pallor - this may be a warning of a serious illness (hypoperfusion of the brain stem, blockage of cerebral vessels). Each type of dizziness and cephalalgia is a signal of a disorder occurring in the body.

During pregnancy

Headache is one of the first, but not very common, signs of pregnancy caused by hormonal changes in the body and an increase in blood volume. Pain and dizziness are more common during pregnancy than at other times. Cephalgia is caused by various reasons. In later stages of pregnancy, especially at the end of the 3rd trimester, it can be a sign of preeclampsia.

During pregnancy, it is recommended to avoid medications unless their use is necessary. To alleviate the condition (in severe cases, after consulting a doctor), you can use paracetamol-based drugs (Paracetamol, Panadol, Paralen).

Important! During pregnancy, it is prohibited to take Acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin) or Ibuprofen (Ibalgin, Ibuprofen, Nurofen).

Headache due to bad habits

If you smoke or drink alcoholic beverages, this not only has a destructive effect on the body, but also has a bad effect on the blood vessels of the brain . If people who smoke abstain from this destructive habit for a long period, it leads to headaches and also reduces the thinking process. If you drink alcohol in large quantities, the next day a hangover appears and the brain is poisoned by alcohol. This can cause swelling of the brain. Therefore, you should not be surprised if dizziness and pain appear.

One common cause of serious headaches can be problems with the inner ear. Causes of problems with the inner ear can be:

• the appearance of infections;
• injuries;
• inflammatory processes.

When to contact a specialist

If you have headaches or dizziness, see your doctor if:

• discomfort appears repeatedly without a known cause;
• the signs appeared suddenly and are very intense;
• symptoms last longer than 1 day and do not respond to medications;
• manifestations appeared after a head injury or other serious injury;
• symptoms are accompanied by other difficulties;
• The child is sore and dizzy.

Conclusion

A person suffering from frequent dizziness and headaches sometimes wonders whether there is a serious health problem? The probability of confirmation of suspicion is small. But if suddenly the type of pain and its location change significantly, it is better to consult a doctor.

To eliminate dizziness and headaches, a constant search and interpretation of the causes of these symptoms is necessary. As a rule, it is recommended to adjust your diet: reduce the consumption of alcohol, caffeine, black tea, and salt. Adequate quality sleep, staying in the fresh air, and avoiding stressful situations are also important. For older people in particular, it is advisable to avoid all activities that could cause a fall.

Treatment

Treatment depends on the cause of the pain and dizziness. In some cases, there may be a serious cause, even life-threatening. The main goal of therapy is to treat the cause. To relieve migraines, sleep, relaxation, analgesics, and lifestyle changes are recommended.

Medication methods

The pain can be managed with over-the-counter medications such as Paracetamol or Brufen. However, these methods will not cure the cause. A new drug among the drugs is Migralgin, which is used in the treatment of acute attacks. In case of secondary headache, the cause must be eliminated; helps:

• decrease in blood pressure;
• rehabilitation (for problems with the cervical spine);
• adequate sleep and drinking habits;
• suitable movement, etc.

Non-drug methods

Non-drug therapy includes the following:

• regime measures;
• aromatherapy - the use of essential oils (tangerine, eucalyptus, lemon, jasmine, rose, basil, mint, lemon balm, lavender, chamomile);
• cold or warm compresses;
• dietary changes - limiting foods and drinks that cause headaches and dizziness, especially histamine and histamine liberators;
• sufficient and appropriate movement;
• massage, rehabilitation, physiotherapy, Dorn method.

Traditional methods

Try a tea blend made from the following herbs:

• hop;
• ginger;
• chamomile;
• Melissa;
• lavender;
• mint;
• rosemary.

Take 1 tsp. each herb, pour ½ liter of boiling water, leave for 10 minutes. Drink throughout the day.

A proven aid for headaches and dizziness is the medicinal letter. Pour in 2 tsp. herbs 250 ml boiling water, leave to brew for 15 minutes. This tea can not only be drunk, but also used as compresses.

Carrying out examinations for pain

If pain and dizziness bother you often, you need to visit a treating specialist - a neurologist or therapist. They refer the patient to other highly specialized doctors, who identify the general nature of the disease. There are several diagnostic methods that it is advisable to undergo:

• MRI;
• general analysis of blood fluid;
• CT;
• angiography.

The reasons for this phenomenon, as well as the conclusions of the doctor, influence what the treatment will be.