When to Worry About Headaches
House Call Doctor explains when a headache could be a symptom of something more serious.
House Call Doctor
When someone comes to the office with a headache, they are often worried of something more serious: brain tumors, aneurisms, or other scary things. It’s my job to not only figure out what’s causing the headache, but to reassure people that they are not about to die from something terrible.
But here are three handy tips for the hyper vigilant –
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Though brain tumors can cause headache, they often do not.
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Aneurisms, which are areas of blood vessels that blow up like a balloon, can leak and cause a sudden severe headache. However, a ruptured aneurism causes profound weakness to parts of the body, and so headaches are rarely the main concern.
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Certain infections, such as influenza, meningitis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever can also cause bad headaches (along with other symptoms).
Though brain tumors can cause headache, they often do not.
What are the symptoms that should make you worry?
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Sudden onset of a severe headache, especially one that awakens you from sleep
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Onset of regular headaches starting after age 50
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Severe headache in the morning that is accompanied by vomiting
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Any significant change to a person’s normal pattern of headache
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Pain you’d call severe headache or “the worst headache ever”
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Headache accompanied by confusion or other changes in mental status
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Headache associated with red eyes
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Headache following a head injury–especially if the headache gets worse over time
All of these are signs to get your headache checked promptly.
Woman with headache image from Shutterstock