Headache pain along with a stuffy, runny nose and itchy, watery eyes. Seems like a sinus headache, right? Think again.
What Causes Nose Pain and Headache?
More than 4 from 5 individuals who believe they have a sinus headache with symptoms like pain in the head, stuffy nose, and watery eyes really have migraine headache headaches.
Here’s why it matters: Treating a migraine headache like a sinus headache, or vice versa, does not work.
Differences in Symptoms, Causes
Sinus headache and migraine headache can have some symptoms in common, consisting of:
- Pain in the head, especially the forehead.
- Itchy or watery eyes.
- Pain connected with motion.
But migraines are often also accompanied by other symptoms, including:
- Queasiness or vomiting.
- Sensitivity to sound or light.
- Severe throbbing pain on one side of the head.
Migraine headache is usually to blame in individuals who have frequent, severe headaches.
If you walk into your doctor’s office with disabling headache pain that reoccurs, 95 % of the time it’s migraine headache. People with sinus infections don’t complain of headache first. They say they are sick and have a headache.
Sinus headaches are normally brought on by an infection and inflammation of the nasal passages. That results in congestion. And that causes pain and pressure in the forehead and behind the cheekbones.
Severe Nose Pain and Headache: How to Treat?
For sinus headaches, treatment begins with decongestants, pain reducers, and nasal watering to alleviate sinus pressure and congestion and aid drain.
Antibiotics or nasal steroids are frequently utilized as a 2nd line of attack to treat the underlying infection or chronic disease.
A sinus headache caused by an infection must go away right after beginning treatment.
Migraine headache treatment isn’t just about stopping a migraine once it starts. It’s also about preventing them and reducing their frequency, intensity, and period.
Drugs called triptans are utilized during a migraine attack to lower pain and restore function.
Other drugs, first developed to deal with epilepsy, depression, and hypertension can be utilized to prevent migraine attacks. Botox injections have actually also been used to help avoid chronic migraines. Hormone therapy might be recommended for women who have migraines connected to their menstrual cycle.
Lifestyle also matters for migraines. Stress-reducing therapies — such as exercise, relaxation, and biofeedback — might likewise assist avoid the reoccurrence and severity of migraines. Learning your migraine headache activates and preventing them also matters.
Let’s state you have a migraine. But you have no idea that, and you treat it with pain relievers for what you believe is a sinus headache.
That may make matters worse. You might get some temporary relief, but you could end up with a “rebound” headache later.
A great deal of sinus medications contain analgesics [painkiller] Overuse of analgesics can cause rebound headaches.
Masquerading as a Sinus Problem
It’s easy to understand to first think a sinus problem if you have a headache, stuffy nose, and watery eyes.
But your body’s pain reaction may have tricked you.
If you give a human pain in the head, particularly in the forehead. There is a reflex that activates nerves that produce eye watering, itchiness of the eye, stuffiness, and runny nose.
If you didn’t understand that all forms of pain do that, then those symptoms are [wrongly] connected with sinus disease.
When to visit a Doctor?
If your headaches hinder your life or don’t respond to over the counter medications, it’s time to see a doctor.
If you are going to take medicine to treat a headache and are unsure what you have, it’s a good time to see a doctor.
Obviously, you should seek medical assistance right away if you have a headache that:
- Gets gradually even worse.
- Is related to neurological symptoms such as loss of vision or muscle weakness.
- Is accompanied by a fever or stiff neck.
- Has abrupt beginning and is the worst headache of your life.
If you’re complaining to a doctor that you’ve got a headache that reoccurs, it needs to be thought about migraine till tested otherwise.
