Pain in the back of the head and causes of dizziness

Pain in the back of the head and dizziness are the most common complaints with which patients turn to doctors.

The causes of unpleasant sensations may be due to various pathological processes localized in the head and neck area, the presence of psychogenic or somatic diseases.

Severe organic lesions (tumors, injuries, congenital anomalies) are diagnosed only in 5-8% of patients. In other cases, doctors diagnose “migraine”, “tension headache”, “disease of the cervicothoracic spine” or “hypertension”.

Under the influence of what factors does the back of the head hurt and feel dizzy?

It is contraindicated to immediately panic at the moment when dizziness and pain in the back of the head occur. The reasons are not necessarily related to any illnesses. Quite harmless conditions can cause pain. For example:

• staying in an uncomfortable position for a long time;
• psycho-emotional stress;
• overdosing on alcohol-containing drinks.

However, you cannot ignore the fact that you feel dizzy and the back of your head hurts. Perhaps unpleasant sensations indicate the presence of a disease.

Diagnosis and treatment

It should be noted that occasional occurrences of discomfort in the back of the head with mild pain that goes away after taking analgesics do not pose a particular danger.

It occurs to every person at least once in their life. This happens as a result of prolonged exposure to stress, alcohol and nicotine abuse, uncomfortable sleeping posture, sedentary work, and consumption of junk food with synthetic additives.

It is necessary to immediately consult a doctor if symptoms occur on an ongoing basis, getting stronger each time.

In this case, for an accurate diagnosis, the patient undergoes magnetic resonance imaging of cerebral vessels, X-rays and ultrasound diagnostics of the cervical spine. Based on the examination, treatment is prescribed.

If the presence of severe pathologies is excluded, the following measures are recommended:

• Therapeutic exercise aimed at strengthening the muscles of the spinal column and improving blood flow.
• Massage.
• For osteochondrosis and neuralgia - manual therapy and acupuncture.
• Physiotherapy is prescribed for myogelosis, osteochondrosis and spondylosis.

It is important to monitor your diet, lead a healthy lifestyle, and exercise.

The main conditions that cause pain in the back of the head and dizziness

Below we describe in detail which painful conditions cause pain in the back of the head and dizziness. This is definitely worth keeping in mind. Timely contact with a health care facility reduces painful manifestations to nothing.

Osteochondrosis of the cervical part

The development of the disease leads to deformation of the vertebrae, their displacement and incorrect location. These circumstances cause the artery that carries nutrients and oxygen to the cerebral cortex to be compressed to varying degrees. When its lumen decreases, the nerve cells starve. Therefore, dizziness occurs and the back of the head goes numb.

Anxiety during migraine

In the presence of this disease, the pain is very long-lasting and sharp. The patient feels an increasing beating in the head. During a period of prolonged exacerbation, painful manifestations become more widespread. Such circumstances lead to severe pain in the back of the head and neck, head and dizziness.

Problems with the central nervous system

Diseases of the nervous system lead to its functioning at an extreme rhythm. The cerebral cortex suffers especially severely. Experiencing large overloads, the central nervous system malfunctions. This, in particular, affects the cardiovascular system and leads to an increase in blood pressure. There is pain in the back of the head and dizziness.

Cervical spondylosis

Determines mechanical damage and proliferation of discs of individual vertebrae. Painful pressure syndrome covers the upper part of the body, up to the sternum. The most pronounced pain is felt in the back of the head, leading to dizziness.

Hypertensive pathology

High blood pressure leads to improper blood supply to the brain. As a result, it does not receive enough oxygen and nutrients. With hypertension, among other things, intracranial pressure increases. The combination of these factors leads to the following consequences: nausea, pain in the back of the head, dizziness. The causes associated with surges in blood pressure require close attention, as over time they can lead, for example, to a stroke.

Cause of pain

1. Depression and stress. Long-term emotional stress impairs performance, causes drowsiness, anxiety, obsessive thoughts, worsens appetite and general condition. Pressure in the back of the head is episodic, the pain is moderate or mild, occurring at any time of the day.
2. Traumatic brain injury. Post-traumatic pain begins 10-12 days after the injury. Acute ones are caused by hemorrhage, intracranial hematomas, brain contusion, vascular or inflammatory abnormalities, and damage to surface tissues. Chronic ones most often have a progressive course. The pain is localized in the occipital area, dull and pressing, and extremely rarely pulsating. They gain intensity in a standing position, in the morning, when moving, against a background of dizziness, intolerance to sound and light, and nausea.
3. Brain tumors. Heaviness in the back of the head due to brain tumors (benign or malignant) can be blurred or pronounced. The pain is one-sided, slowly progressive, tending to occur after coughing, bending, or sleep. Over time, it increases and other disorders are added - vision, balance, coordination of movement, speech.
4. Arnold-Chiari malformation. The cerebellum, due to the disproportionately small part of the skull, is forced, together with the spinal cord, to move downwards - to the upper segment of the spine, which leads to pain in the neck and back of the head, and dizziness. Due to impaired circulation of cerebrospinal fluid, it becomes difficult to turn the head, straighten or tilt the neck. Against this background, numbness of the hands, noise in the ears, difficulty urinating, and compression behind the sternum are observed.

Important: the symptom complex of Arnold-Chiari malformation resembles manifestations of osteochondrosis, therefore, if this disease is suspected, a thorough diagnosis is needed, including an MRI of the head.

Diagnostics

To eliminate pathological manifestations, you will first need to find out why the back of your head hurts and your head is dizzy. To do this, the doctor will conduct the following studies:

• Questioning and visual examination of the patient.
• MRI of the cervical region.
• Radiography.
• General blood analysis.

Depending on the accompanying symptoms and individual characteristics of the patient, additional research methods may be prescribed.

Based on the results, it will be established that dizziness and numbness in the back of the head occurred under the influence of objective non-dangerous causes, or are just signals of the development of an underlying, more serious illness.

Primary headache

The best thing that can happen for a patient is to diagnose painful sensations in the head and back of the head, as a result of external factors. For example, depressive states, long work in a sedentary position, sudden changes in body position.

Secondary symptomatic headaches

In this situation, the neck hurts and the head feels dizzy due to the occurrence of unhealthy processes in the internal environment. Which ones exactly have already been discussed above. However, it should be remembered that these symptoms may also indicate the presence of dangerous diseases such as malignant tumors.

Diseases of the cervicothoracic spine

The presence of such ailments explains why the back of the head, closer to the neck, hurts.

1. Pinched occipital nerve. Characterized by sharp and acute pain, radiating to the back of the head, organs of vision and hearing, and jaw. May occur when turning the body.
2. Osteochondrosis. Pathological lesions of the cervical vertebrae. The blood flow to the brain is disrupted, nerves and blood vessels are compressed, resulting in moderate pain. What symptoms are accompanied by:
3. Discomfort in the neck and back of the head.
4. Dizziness.
5. Loss of coordination.
6. Hypertension.
7. Sweating.
8. Muscle weakness.

Often a feeling of a “heavy” head . The causes of the disease are spinal injuries, poor diet, excess weight, sedentary lifestyle, and exposure to cold.

1. Spondylosis is damage to the cartilage discs that subsequently develops into an intervertebral hernia. It hurts when turning and tilting the head, and over time the mobility of the neck becomes constrained. Presses on the back of the head, squeezes the head, pulls the shoulders.
2. Myositis is inflammation of the neck muscles. Occurs after hypothermia, uncomfortable head position, severe tension, stress and in the presence of infection. The pain can be severe, as if it’s shooting, squeezing the head. Curvature of the spine also provokes the disease.
3. Myogelosis is a consequence of osteochondrosis, a violation of blood circulation in the neck muscles, leading to spasm and tension. Every movement of the head and neck is painful, radiating to the shoulder joint. Nausea, dizziness, and fatigue appear.

Danger Signals

Many people consider symptoms such as back pain and dizziness to be harmless. It is not right. There are a number of signs that make you seriously consider visiting a medical facility. Let's look at which ones:

1. Pathological signs recur periodically, and their frequency increases over time.
2. During unpleasant manifestations, the patient also feels nauseous and vomits.
3. In addition to pain, a burning sensation is felt in the back of the head.
4. The head is being squeezed tightly, as if in a vice.
5. Severe, unreasonable fatigue appears.
6. A condition where the back of the head hurts and dizziness is accompanied by frequent changes in blood pressure.

First aid

In case of sudden and intense attacks, the victim should be given emergency assistance. To do this you will need:

• Immediately place him on his back.
• Rub the whiskey with onion juice.
• Place a clean cloth moistened with cool water on your forehead; if possible, you can use a cabbage leaf.
• If you feel very dizzy, give a cotton swab soaked in ammonia a sniff.
• Lightly massage the back of your head.
• If you have a chill, warm the patient by covering him with a warm blanket or blanket.

In which case, immediately consult a doctor

If the following situations occur, you should immediately seek medical help:

1. Dizziness and pain in the back of the head are accompanied by elevated body temperature.
2. The victim lost consciousness.
3. Inappropriate behavior of the patient.
4. Incomprehensible sounds, ringing, sensation of water or sand appear in the ears.
5. Visual acuity decreases.
6. Dull or sharp pain in the intra-abdominal area appears.

Possible reasons

If the back of your head hurts and you feel dizzy, then the reasons may be the following:

1. Diseases of a tumor nature.
2. Increase or decrease in blood pressure (BP).
3. Impaired kidney function.
4. Heart problems.
5. Various neurological diseases.
6. Stress, anxiety and panic attacks.
7. Impaired blood flow to brain tissue.

Important: Dizziness and pain in the back of the head may appear after a hard day at work; the cause of deterioration in well-being may be simple overwork, both physical and psychological.

If dizziness and pain occur constantly and cause a lot of anxiety, then a brain tumor may be the cause. As it grows and develops, it puts pressure on brain tissue and leads to unpleasant symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, impaired consciousness, and numbness in the limbs.

The head can also hurt due to hypoxia (lack of oxygen). This occurs due to impaired blood flow to the brain tissue. If the vessels of the cervical spine are narrowed, then dizziness may be accompanied by blurred vision and short-term loss of consciousness.

Attention! Kidney problems are often the cause of high blood pressure. Excess fluid accumulates in the body and leads to disruption of its functioning.

Increased blood pressure or hypertension occurs against the background of a large number of diseases, including atherosclerosis, arterial stenosis and coronary heart disease. Therefore, if signs of hypertension appear, you should promptly consult a doctor for help.

Dizziness and pain often appear against the background of a previous injury, bruise, or concussion. In such a situation, it is necessary to urgently consult a doctor, especially if unpleasant symptoms are accompanied by vomiting and nausea, sleep disturbances, visual or auditory perception of information.

If the pain is localized in the occipital region and gradually grows, is bursting in nature and does not allow a person to fall asleep, and when changing position the patient only feels a worsening of well-being, it is necessary to urgently call an ambulance. The cause of the headache may be cerebral vasospasm or stroke.

Dizziness can also occur against the background of low blood pressure (hypotension). In this case, the patient complains of severe weakness, tinnitus, “floaters before the eyes”, mild nausea and short-term loss of consciousness may appear.

In any case, you should not ignore this condition; you should definitely consult a doctor.

Treatment

To get rid of such unpleasant symptoms as pain in the back of the head and dizziness, complex treatment is usually used. Typically it includes:

• drug therapy;
• exercise therapy;
• physiotherapy.

Depending on the underlying disease, additional methods may be prescribed to improve the condition.

Is it possible to help without drugs?

If you don’t want to stuff your body with medications and pills, you can resort to equally effective, proven methods that will help you get rid of the condition when the back of your head hurts and you feel dizzy. Let's list the best:

• specialized gymnastic exercises that must be agreed with a specialist;
• visiting a massage room, emphasis should be placed on the collar area;
• water treatments, for example, a swimming pool. Swimming must be supervised by a coach;
• use of special strengthening corsets. It should be remembered that you cannot wear them all the time. The time of use for each should be determined by a specialist;
• various therapeutic rubbing, dressings, compresses. You can consider recipes from traditional medicine or choose specialized complexes that are sold in pharmacies;
• acupuncture, you should contact a trusted specialist;
• A healing decoction of thyme and mint will help relieve pain. The herbs must be mixed in equal proportions and poured with hot water. After fifteen minutes, the solution must be filtered and drunk. The course of treatment is at least two weeks.

Prevention

Heaviness in the back of the head is often the result of stress, mental or physical strain.

For prevention purposes, you should adhere to a diet with limited consumption of foods containing tyramine (citrus fruits, chocolate, red wine, cheese), reduce daily stress, perform regular massage of the collar area, take water procedures, and spend more time in the fresh air.

If episodes of severe headaches become regular and are not relieved by analgesics and other medications, you should consult a doctor to rule out oncology and potentially life-threatening diseases.

Preventive measures

In order not to torment yourself with questions about how to get rid of the condition when the back of your head hurts and you feel dizzy, you need to take all possible measures to prevent this. The following will help avoid unpleasant symptoms:

1. Switch to the treatment menu. A balanced set of products is the key to good health. You should eat as many fresh fruits, vegetables and berries as possible, preferably seasonal ones. You should avoid foods that are too salty, fatty, and sweet.
2. Availability of daily feasible physical activity. This will raise your vitality and strengthen your muscles.
3. Refusal of drinking alcohol and smoking.
4. Get enough rest, go to bed early.
5. Minimizing the number of stressful situations and psycho-emotional stress.
6. Alternation of sedentary work and vigorous activity. This will help avoid stagnant processes.
7. You will need to take walks every day. The minimum duration is twenty minutes.

No matter what, you need to remember that if the back of your head hurts and you feel dizzy, you should not self-medicate or wait for everything to go away on its own. You need to urgently visit a doctor to get advice. Only a professional can help you get rid of unfavorable symptoms and maintain your health.