Three specific situations are also urgent: pregnant or recently pregnant women who develop a sudden severe headache.
People who are immunocompromised should consider headache as an emergency.
People who’ve had any COVID-19 vaccine in the previous four to 42 days, and who have a persistent headache despite taking simple painkillers.
Most headaches are less serious, and can be managed without a hospital trip. But they can still take a serious toll.
15 per cent of Australians are taking painkillers for a headache.
The advices of a doctor are as follows:
Make a long appointment to see a GP to discuss your headache and nothing else. Give it the time and attention it deserves.
It’s helpful to take a record of your headaches for your doctor’s appointment: a “headache diary”.
The most important tool doctors have to diagnose headaches is your history.
You may feel they are asking a lot of questions, but that’s because there are so many possible causes. Bear with your GP as they try to get you the most accurate diagnosis.
Possible common causes of headache include dehydration, eye/neck strain, teeth grinding, lack of sleep or caffeine withdrawal. Even taking regular painkillers can cause “medication overuse” headaches; the cure can become the cause.
Sometimes the location of the pain gives a clue. For example, about 35 per cent of headaches are “tension headaches”, which feel like a tight band around both sides of your head.
Another 4 per cent are “cluster headaches”, which start behind one eye (which can go red and watery) and are often associated with a stuffy nose.
A migraine episode may be preceded by an “aura” (such as flashes of light), and often includes symptoms like nausea or vomiting, extreme sensitivity to noise and light, and blurred vision.
Fevers, an altered sense of smell, fatigue and pressure in your ears are features associated with acute sinusitis.
Certain headaches, such as migraine episodes or tension headaches, may have triggers that set them off, including certain foods, sleep deprivation, particular smells, or emotional stress.
Hormonal headaches track with menstrual cycles. Once an association is noticed, you may be able to pre-empt and treat headaches early.
Rarely, very high blood pressure (a hypertensive crisis) can cause a headache. However, raised blood pressure during a headache is usually simply your natural response to pain.
It’s essential to have chronic and recurrent headaches diagnosed properly by a doctor. Your GP may send you to another specialist (such as a neurologist or ear, nose and throat surgeon) depending on how complicated your situation appears.
Headaches rarely need diagnostic investigations, but if your doctor is worried they may organize a CT scan, MRI scan or lumbar puncture.
Even if you’re sent for further testing, a specific cause may not be found. If that’s the case, your doctor’s goal will be to help you manage your headaches and lessen their impact on your life.
Migraines deserve a special mention here as they can be so debilitating and poorly understood.
Many people self-diagnose “migraines” incorrectly. But a bad headache is not the same thing as a migraine attack, and some migraine attacks do not even include a headache!
If you think you have migraine attacks, get them diagnosed and treated properly.
Why headaches can be so costly for us all
If you can avoid going to hospital unnecessarily when you have a headache, you’ll benefit yourself and Australia’s health-care system.
Every time you present to an emergency department, it costs you hours of your life, and the community an average of A$561.
Seeing your GP is obviously more time-efficient and instead costs the community between A$38 to A$75.
If headaches interfere with your life, please prioritise your health. See a doctor, get a management plan for them – and save yourself a painfully long wait in emergency.
Source: Medindia
