Exploding head syndrome is a severe sleep disorder that is quite rare. It manifests itself as loud noise in the ears during sleep or when falling asleep. If you are interested in history, the disease was noticed only in the 19th century, and it was classified as a sleep disorder only in 2005. This problem appears against the backdrop of a number of unrelated factors, which is why diagnosing and treating such a disease can be difficult.
Looking for the real reason
Exploding head syndrome is poorly understood, but there are various hypotheses regarding the nature of its occurrence.
Observation of patients during sleep allowed us to formulate a theory that the syndrome is associated with disturbances in the functioning of the brain. The disorder occurs as a result of disruption of the natural processes of inhibition and excitation that occur in the network formation.
Before entering the sleep state, various parts of the brain gradually turn off. At different stages of this process, auditory, motor, and visual neurons are switched off.
Also, explosions and flashes in the head can be caused by auditory neurons being activated instead of shutting down. This process can lead to sharp and loud auditory hallucinations.
Also, patients with this syndrome experience delayed reactions in the reticular formation (the area of the brain responsible for activating the cerebral cortex and reflexes). This suppresses alpha waves produced by the brain, which are responsible for falling asleep.
Possible causes of the disorder include:
- small seizures that affect the temporal lobe of the brain;
- sudden disturbances in the structure of the middle ear;
- stress and increased anxiety;
- sleep deprivation;
- hearing injury;
- withdrawal of antidepressants (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors);
- withdrawal of benzodiazepines;
- chronic fatigue;
- other sleep disorders;
- disturbances in the functioning of the nervous system;
- excessive consumption of alcohol and drugs;
- mental disorders;
- chronic pathologies of internal organs.
Women are most susceptible to developing the disorder.
Previously, it was thought that the syndrome was characteristic of older people, but research conducted in 2014 at the University of Washington showed that the disorder is quite common among young people.
So, when surveying students, about 18% of them noted the presence of symptoms of the syndrome.
Causes
A common cause of the syndrome is chronic stress caused by severe mental shock. However, scientists cannot say that the cause is 100% related to stress. Pathology began to be actively studied only in the 21st century. Therefore, there is very little clinical data on exploding head syndrome.
According to the observations of somnologists, pathology most often develops in women over 20 years of age and preschool children. Also, people with diseases of the nervous system, mental disorders and drug addiction are at risk.
Suspected causes of exploding head syndrome include:
- Anxiety.
- Alcohol addiction.
- Taking or abruptly stopping antidepressants, antipsychotics.
- Sleep disorders.
- Epilepsy.
- Middle ear dysfunction or injury.
- Sleep deprivation.
Note that these reasons only indirectly indicate the presence of the syndrome. What exactly is associated with the disease can be found out only after a thorough diagnosis prescribed by the doctor.
Features of the clinical picture
During sleep or in the process of falling asleep, loud sounds, noises, flashes, and explosion sounds suddenly appear in the head area. In some cases, these sensations occur during the period of awakening.
Sound hallucinations are not accompanied by pain. Waking up from loud sounds occurs with a feeling of fear and is often accompanied by sleep paralysis.
During an attack, the following symptoms may appear:
- the sounds of a loud explosion that seems to tear your head apart, the sound of strings, the sound of a bursting balloon, the sounds of a bell, a scream, a knock, a shot;
- convulsions, muscle twitching;
- panic attack during an attack;
- sensation of bright flashes.
An attack of exploding head syndrome is quite short-lived and lasts no more than a few seconds. It can occur once during the night, or it can occur several attacks in one night. They can occur every night, once a week or month, or there may be only one episode of attack throughout life.
The sensations of an attack may make a person think that a cerebral hemorrhage or stroke has occurred.
Mechanism of the syndrome
Seizures occur due to a malfunction of the brain. This was found out when studying patients with this disease during sleep. An “explosion” disrupts a person’s comfortable sleep zone if the natural mechanisms of the reticular formation are deviated from the norm. When immersed in a healthy night's sleep, consciousness does not turn off instantly, but gradually. The speed of the process depends on the level of brain arousal before falling asleep. The auditory, visual and motor electrically excitable nerve cells gradually turn off.
But explosions and seizures occur due to the suspension and cessation of the activity of the brain. Inhibition weakens the waves that drive sleep, resulting in a burst of energetic neurons in the area on the head responsible for analyzing sound from the external environment. The hyperactivity of neuronal cells manifests itself in the human body as a strong and loud bang during a sleepy dive, and lasts for several seconds.
In addition, in sick people whose heads “explode” at night, reactions and reflexes in the part of the brain that activates the cerebral hemispheres are inhibited.
Diagnosis and differentiation from other disorders
A detailed examination is often not necessary to identify exploding head syndrome. The diagnosis can be made by a neurologist or a somnologist (a specialist in the field of sleep disorders) after a conversation and medical history.
In case of significant sleep disturbances, a study such as polysomnography may be performed. A polysomnography study examines brain waves, breathing function, and heart rhythms during sleep. Also, during the procedure, various movements of the limbs during sleep are recorded.
Polysomnography can reveal a connection between the sensation of auditory hallucinations in the head and possible other sleep disorders.
In some cases, exploding head syndrome may be accompanied by headaches. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out differential diagnosis with other syndromes that are characterized by headache.
In case of difficulties in making an accurate diagnosis, differential diagnosis is carried out with epilepsy and organic pathologies of the brain. For this purpose, the following research methods are used:
- CT scan;
- Magnetic resonance imaging;
- transcranial Dopplerography of cerebral vessels;
- Ultrasound examination of the vessels that supply blood to the brain.
What do you need to know about diagnostics?
A neurologist can identify this syndrome, and a somnologist can also deal with a similar problem. The latter specializes in sleep problems. In order to suspect the presence of such an illness, it is necessary to interview the patient. The specialist should ask questions about the patient's sleep patterns.
There is such a procedure as polysomnography, it is needed in order to study the activity of the brain, breathing, and heart function during the night. Such a test allows you to detect problems in the excitation of certain parts of the nervous system and study abnormalities in the functioning of the heart and lungs. If organic diseases of the central nervous system are detected, the diagnosis is made using neuroimaging. Suspecting organic brain damage, specialists resort to computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. In milder cases, Doppler sonography of the veins and arteries of the brain is performed.
Health care
Exploding head syndrome is a fairly new phenomenon in medicine and there is no single accepted treatment regimen.
Drug therapy can be used to treat the syndrome. Patients are often prescribed the following medications:
- homeopathic and herbal medicines;
- antihypoxants;
- sleeping pills;
- tricyclic antidepressants.
If the syndrome causes other sleep disorders (for example, insomnia), then calcium antagonists are prescribed. In some cases, calcium channel blockers can lead to complete cessation of attacks of the syndrome, but most likely a decrease in the frequency of attacks.
In the treatment of this sleep disorder, it is possible to use physiotherapy methods: acupuncture, massage, electrosleep.
About treatment
It must be said right away that there is no single treatment scenario for this disease. Treatment of exploding head syndrome is carried out individually, when deciding which it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the patient’s condition. In most cases, specialists resort to such groups of medications as:
- Sleeping pills, which are created on the basis of natural ingredients.
- Tricyclic antidepressants.
- Antioxidants.
- Drugs that improve blood circulation in the brain. They help normalize metabolic processes in neurons.
Psychotherapy can be used as treatment; it has a positive effect on the state of the body. This is because the feeling that your head is exploding can occur due to chronic stress. In any case, the problem requires turning to professionals. A neurologist and a somnologist can make a conclusion about whether the patient needs psychotherapy. The doctor will be able to identify the causes of the disease and select the optimal treatment methods. This may be drug or non-drug therapy.
It is not recommended to treat yourself, the fact is that side effects may occur. In particular, these are cases when medications are used or the disease begins to progress. It may happen that the disease leads to other sleep problems, in particular chronic insomnia. In this case, experts prescribe calcium analogues. It often happens that calcium blockers help to completely get rid of attacks or reduce their frequency. Also, with this illness, it is allowed to use massage, electrosleep and acupuncture.
What should you tell your doctor?
In order for the doctor to make the correct diagnosis and prescribe the correct treatment, you need to communicate the characteristics of your feelings and condition. To begin with, it’s worth talking about when the first symptoms of the disease appeared, namely the sensation of a loud sound in the head. It is important to tell how often attacks occur and what their duration is. The doctor will also need your medical history. Let your doctor know what medications you are currently taking.
If you have previously experienced any sleep disorders, you should report this to a specialist. You may know that your relatives have had similar sleep disorders. Your doctor may advise you to keep a sleep diary for two weeks. This will help the specialist consider your regimen in more detail and assess the situation.
Relapse Prevention
Recommendations for preventing recurrences of nighttime explosions in the head are quite simple and applicable to many sleep disorders:
- Normalize sleep patterns . Normally, sleep duration should be at least 6-8 hours.
- Reducing tension and stress levels . If it is impossible to eliminate these factors from everyday life, it is necessary to master techniques and methods of dealing with stress and relaxation. These methods include auto-training and yoga.
- Normalization of diet . It is not recommended to eat heavy foods before going to bed. Also during this period you should not drink strong tea, coffee, energy drinks, or eat sweet, salty or spicy foods.
- Active lifestyle and sports . Walking in the fresh air, cycling, fitness, and swimming will help normalize sleep.
- To refuse from bad habits . Drinking alcohol and smoking negatively affect the quality of sleep.
Symptoms
During deep sleep, before waking up or just before falling asleep, a person hears all kinds of noise in his ears, loud and unbearable sounds. As a rule, there are no painful sensations at high audible intensity.
Waking up from such noise, a person may fall into a state of “sleep paralysis”, followed by increased fear and anxiety.
Main symptoms.
- Immediately after waking up, panic attacks make themselves felt.
- The presence of sounds comparable to knocking, ringing, or explosion.
- An additional phenomenon with the described syndrome is in the form of bright flashes in the eyes.
- Cramps affecting individual muscles or entire groups of them.
Symptoms of the pathology make themselves felt sporadically or appear regularly and over a long period of time.
The described state disappears after a few seconds. With multiple repetitions of attacks, the quality of night sleep deteriorates, which negatively affects overall well-being.
The frequency of seizures varies; they can occur once a month or repeat every night.
Should you see a doctor if you suspect exploding head syndrome?
It is not necessary to rush to the doctor immediately after experiencing the above-described unpleasant sensations.
But you need to arrange an unscheduled vacation with good healthy sleep and rest. Usually this is enough for the disturbing symptoms to disappear. Sharp sounds that a person “hears” in a dream rarely disturb him. The only possible inconvenience is waking up, but this is almost always followed by instantaneous falling asleep. Without focusing on the problem, you can quickly forget about it.
Another thing is situations when pathology negatively affects the quality of life due to the fact that a person is deprived of proper sleep. If this fact becomes another stressful component, you need to contact a specialist. The first person on the list to visit is a neurologist, who identifies concomitant diseases, if any. He will also check the cerebral vascular system. This must be followed by a visit to a somnologist.
Why is there a knocking in the head: reasons
Long-standing fatigue, nervous tension, and stress - these are the three main reasons for the sensation of pounding and explosions in the head known to science at the moment.
The reasons for the pounding in the head are long-standing fatigue and nervous tension, as well as stress, that is, in fact three main signs of the life of a modern person. This parasommic disorder has no connection with hallucinations or epilepsy. Information about the pathology has not yet been collected in sufficient quantities to describe it, since it is quite rare. This fact was noted in his report at the meeting of the Australian Sleep Association by somnologist Philip King.
And although there are no exact statistics yet, it is preliminary noted that women most often suffer from it, and it practically does not depend on age. Sometimes children under the age of ten suffer from this syndrome.
In addition, the risk group includes people who suffer from other types of sleep disorders or pathologies of internal organs. It also appears more often in those who are addicted to alcohol or drugs, or have a nervous or psychological disorder.
The causes of pounding in the head are not fully understood, but it is an interesting medical case that is being closely studied.
What causes “explosion of the head”, what kind of syndrome is it?
SVH is a condition where a patient who is sound asleep or just before waking up hears a loud sound. A scream, a doorbell, an explosion - whatever, the main thing is that it is very loud. This is accompanied by a feeling as if the head is literally being torn apart by it. Often the head explosion is accompanied by a flash and the muscles twitch. Many people have a panic attack at the same time.
The person does not feel pain, the condition lasts literally a few seconds and disappears without a trace when the patient wakes up. The attacks can be one-time, or they can be a series - over one night or several in a row. Some people experience this unpleasant sensation once in a lifetime, while others suffer from it regularly. If there is a series of attacks, which can last even several months, the syndrome does not return.
The phenomenon belongs to the category of parasommic, that is, those that occur during sleep. Sometimes cases of its manifestation are so vivid that a person consults a doctor. suspecting a stroke or other vascular accident.
Diagnostic measures
The condition of an exploding head is determined by a somnologist or neurologist. These specialists understand the intricacies of problems associated with sleep disorders. Initially, a consultation is held with the patient, during which the doctor analyzes all his complaints and unusual conditions.
A survey regarding regular night sleep will be important.
In advanced cases, polysomnography is prescribed. During the procedure, activity in the brain is studied, and heart rate and breathing parameters are taken throughout the night.
During the examination, disorders are identified in certain areas of the central nervous system.
If there are organic pathologies of the central nervous system, the diagnosis is determined using a technique called neuroimaging.
This procedure includes Doppler ultrasound, magnetic resonance therapy, and examination of the arteries in the brain using ultrasound.
Is treatment important?
After numerous observations of patients, it was found that exploding head syndrome has no consequences. The disease rarely causes severe discomfort and is usually replaced by an almost instantaneous lapse into sleep. If you don’t think about this problem, but rather rest more often and avoid heavy stress on the mental system, then you can completely forget about the attacks.
But if the syndrome negatively affects night rest, prevents you from relaxing normally, or leads to panic attacks, it is very important to consult a doctor in time. First, it is important to consult a neurologist for a full examination and identify concomitant pathologies, and then contact a somnologist.
To avoid possible sleep problems, it is best to prevent relapses in advance. To do this, the patient must normalize sleep patterns (at least 7-8 hours), reduce stress levels, improve diet, start leading an active lifestyle and get rid of bad habits that worsen health.
