What Are Headaches, Migraines, Dizziness, and Other Causes of Headaches?i

Headaches, Migraines, Dizziness and other Headaches can have neurological causes. Headache is one of the most common complaints in the society and is seen in 90% of the society. Most of these pains are migraine and tension-type headaches.

Headaches that appear directly with a headache picture and are not related to another disease are called primary headaches. These; migraine / tension type / cluster headaches.

Secondary headaches, on the other hand, are headaches that occur at a rate of 10%, especially during the course of diseases such as cerebrovascular diseases, nervous system diseases, brain tumors, eye diseases, sinusitis, and meningitis due to a certain disease.

What are the characteristics of migraine?
Usually the pain is on one side of the head
The pain is throbbing, moderate or severe
Nausea, vomiting may occur
Comes in crises (attack)
Pain lasts 4 to 72 hours
There may be visual disturbances at the onset of pain (with aura type)
Pain increases with head movements and physical activity
May be disturbed by light and sound
aura; Most vision-related symptoms are seen before the onset of pain in migraine. There may be bright lights, zig zag lines, or blurred vision, loss of vision in an area or an area. In addition, numbness in the arms and legs, dizziness, and speech disorders are also seen. These symptoms last for about 20-30 minutes, and then pain often begins.

Is the cause of migraine known?
Environmental factors create an activation in the brain in genetically predisposed individuals. This activation causes enlargement of brain vessels and chemicals are released. These cause pain by stimulating the nerves.

Does migraine also occur in childhood?
In 10-15% of all migraineurs, the disease begins in childhood. The incidence of migraine in childhood is 3-5%. This figure rises to over 10% after puberty. Children with sleep disorders, difficulty sleeping, vomiting without reason, allergies, and motion sickness are more likely to develop migraines in the future.

What are the factors that trigger migraine?

elevation changes
air pollution, cigarette smoke
bright light or flickering light
Loud and continuous noise
Fragrance fragrance, other strong odors and chemicals
Changes in weather (pressure, temperature and humidity change, southwestern)
Seasonal changes (autumn and spring are the worst times)
hunger, skipping meals
Sleeping too much or little, disturbances in sleep patterns
plane trips
birth control pills
Hormonal changes in women (menstrual period)
Some foods and beverages (chocolate, nuts, red wine, etc.)
Many foods are held responsible among the factors that trigger migraine. However, the food that increases migraine pain in each patient may be different. The important thing is that the person finds and discovers the substance that triggers the pain.

Why is migraine more common in women?
This is a situation related to the hormonal regime of women. Migraine attacks become rare in menopausal women. Migraine attacks decrease between the 3rd and 9th months of pregnancy.

Does heredity have an effect on migraine?
Migraine sufferers are more likely to have migraine in their close relatives. Genetic defect has been demonstrated only in some special types of migraine.

How can we distinguish tension-type headache from migraine?
Tension-type headaches are mostly caused by stress.
It can hold the whole head. Spreads from the back of the head to the front
Very rarely it can be unilateral
There may be nausea but no vomiting
One week - 15 days with pain (mild)
Pain does not take the form of a crisis
No visual disturbances before the onset of pain
Movement can increase pain
How should the treatment be in migraine?
In migraine, it is necessary to reduce the triggering factors and thus to suppress the sensitivity of the nervous system and the events in and around the veins that occur during pain. If the patient's pain is seen once or twice a month, treatment is recommended only during the attack. In this case, it is necessary to take treatment before the pain gets worse. If the frequency of pain is higher, a treatment called prophylaxis that will reduce the frequency and severity of attacks and prevent pain should be planned.

What causes constant headaches?
It should be investigated whether there is another underlying cause of persistent pain. If the pain persists in patients with periodic pain, the possibility that the patient has used multiple painkillers or that there may be underlying psychological causes should be considered.

What are the causes of headaches in old age?
It should be investigated whether there is an underlying cause in headaches that start in advanced ages. Migraine is a disease that decreases with age. It can start in 2% of people in advanced ages. Two diseases that start especially at an advanced age and cause headaches are temporal arteritis (headache due to a specific vascular inflammation) and hypnic (nocturnal) headaches. For this reason, if a patient over the age of 50 has new-onset headaches, a doctor should be consulted.

When should a patient with a headache consult a doctor?

If the pain is persistent and increasing in intensity

If the age of the person experiencing pain for the first time is under 10 or over 50,
If the severity and form of the pain that was present before has changed, if it does not respond to treatment,
If the headache is the most severe pain he has ever experienced in his life and the pain occurred during a physical activity (lifting a heavy load, sexual intercourse) and increased in intensity,
If there is success after head trauma, if it is accompanied by vomiting
If you have fever, rashes on the body and headache,
If you are receiving treatment for a disease such as cancer or HIV or for such a disease,
If there are complaints such as loss of vision, speech disorder, weakness in an arm or leg along with headache, it is absolutely necessary to go to the doctor.
What is cluster headache?
It is a type of success that is more common in men and is followed by painful periods lasting weeks or months followed by pain-free periods lasting months or years. Cluster headache is a pain that recurs 1-8 times a day and often wakes up at night. Orbital, supraorbital and/or temporal pain is always localized around the same eye area. The pain starts very severe, it is carved. It usually takes an average of 1 hour (15‐180 min). Autonomic findings are accompanied by ipsilateral eye bleeding and/or tearing, nasal discharge, eyelid edema, sweating on the forehead and face, miosis, and/or droopy eyelids.