Secondary Headaches

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We’ve talked about the primary types of headaches before and how with a primary headache, the problem is literally in your head. Like how a migraine, for example, is sometimes associated with a nervous system condition but can also be caused by environmental factors like dehydration, sleep disruption, skipped meals, etc.; it’s that pulsating feeling coming from deep within your head. Knowing this information, we can better understand what secondary headaches are, which are the symptom of something else going on in your body.   Secondary headaches include the following:
  • Allergy/Sinus headaches are more than likely the first type of secondary headache you thought of but can be a symptom of either an allergic reaction your body has to something, or a sinus infection. These headaches typically occur at the front of your face, centralizing themselves around your sinuses (which are named frontal, sphenoid, ethmoid, and maxillary).
  • Hormone headaches are commonly experienced with women due to menstruation, birth control, or pregnancy because of the affect on estrogen levels.
  • Caffeine headaches are another common type of secondary headache that happen when you either have too much caffeine, or if you try to quit caffeine cold turkey. Your brain gets used to a certain fix of caffeine and if it’s over stimulated, or deprived, your head will start with that dull and aching pain.
  • Exertion headaches happen almost immediately after periods of intense physical activity like weight lifting or running; anything that causes increased blood flow to the skull. This leaves us with a throbbing pain that typically doesn’t last long, but we should still be weary because while increased blood flow is normal after a physical activity a headache is not normal in any circumstance.
  • Hypertension headaches occur as a sign of your blood pressure becoming dangerously high, and like all other headaches should absolutely not be taken lightly. The pain is commonly known to occur on both sides of the head with a pulsating feeling.
  • Rebound headaches are a result of medication overuse and can leave you with a dull/tension-type headache. An example of how you end up getting these types of headaches are using over the counter medications like ibuprofen or aspirin more than 15 days out of the month.
  • Post-traumatic headaches develop after any type of head injury and can last up to 6-12 MONTHS after the injury occurs, and can become chronic.
  It can definitely be scary to feel like our body has multiple ways to attack us and try to hinder how we go about our daily lives; unfortunately we can’t pause what’s in our schedule because our headache is just too much for that day. I would get headaches all the time and was just relying on just temporary fixes; that’s when chiropractic care came in and proved to me, and thousands more, that there’s a permanent and sustainable solution out there. There’s a reason why we have 200+ 5-star reviews – chiropractic care WORKS. Call now to book your FREE consultation with the doctor for your permanent headache-free solution!

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