Almost everyone has experienced a headache, and many people often rely on taking a painkiller and resting to relieve it. However, some severe headaches can often be harbingers or initial symptoms of serious illnesses. Delaying diagnosis and treatment can be life-threatening, so one should not adopt a mindset of just enduring it and hoping it will pass. Special attention should be paid to the following types.
1. Cerebrovascular Headaches
Many elderly people suffer from arteriosclerosis and hypertension, and as a result, they often experience accompanying headache symptoms. For instance, a headache is often the first symptom of a cerebral hemorrhage, especially subarachnoid hemorrhage, which can cause an excruciating headache, feeling as if the head is being cleaved by a knife or exploding. When an ischemic stroke occurs due to cerebral vascular stenosis or occlusion, a severe headache may be the only clinical manifestation. Headaches caused by general hypertension typically present as dizziness and dull pain. Only during acute hypertensive crisis and hypertensive encephalopathy can the pain become unbearable, with a feeling of explosion and heaviness. A sudden spike in blood pressure can be a precursor to a stroke.
2. Intracranial Tumors
Among patients with brain tumors, over 90% experience headaches. The headaches associated with this condition often occur around 4 or 5 in the morning, frequently waking the person from deep sleep. After getting up and moving around, the symptoms gradually subside and may disappear by 8 or 9 AM. In addition to morning headaches, patients often experience nausea, vomiting, seizures, and focal neurological dysfunction. Therefore, when a person frequently wakes up with headaches, the possibility of an intracranial tumor should be considered.
3. Chronic Subdural Hematoma
Some patients may recover well from a head injury but then suddenly experience severe headaches and frequent vomiting weeks or months later. Other symptoms may include blurred vision, incontinence, and even seizures. At this stage, one might notice that the pupils are of unequal size, and the patient must not take this situation lightly.
4. Skull Fracture or Intracranial Hemorrhage
Headaches following a head injury are often characterized by a brief loss of consciousness, followed by awakening. However, 30 minutes to an hour later, a severe headache accompanied by vomiting and agitation recurs, and the person gradually loses consciousness again.
5. Intracranial Aneurysm or Congenital Vascular Malformation
These aneurysms are often congenital, lurking deep in the skull base at the base of the brain. If they do not rupture, they usually do not cause headaches or nerve damage. Once they rupture and bleed, the condition can deteriorate rapidly. The first signs are a sudden, severe headache, nausea, vomiting, and a feeling of the head exploding, followed by a coma. If the person regains consciousness after 1-2 days, the headache persists, and they may also present with a drooping eyelid, impaired eye movement, decreased vision, or blindness.