Headache Treatment Specialist in San Antonio, TX

Headaches are considered to be pain or discomfort in the head or facial regions. This pain or discomfort can be experienced with symptoms such as a pressure-like feeling, or throbbing sensations, which can be constant, dull, or sharp when they occur. Headaches are a very common condition that many will experience at least once in their lifetime, and while not all headaches can be life-threatening, they can be debilitating in your daily life, or affect work or school attendance. There are things that can trigger headaches for some patients, but not other patients, but being mindful of what causes your headaches and avoiding those triggers can be very useful for patients. These triggers can range from not drinking enough water daily to stress, not getting enough sleep, alcohol, physical activities where you over-exert yourself, skipping meals, poor posture, and for those who smoke nicotine can induce headaches.

Since headaches occur in the brain and associated areas, there is only about approximately 10% of the causes of headaches have been able to be medically determined meaning that the medical community is still learning about what causes headaches. If you have started to experience chronic headaches this can be caused by the aforementioned factors like not consuming enough water daily, not getting enough sleep, or skipping meals, but can also be associated with situations such as depression, changes in medications, anxiety, sinus infections, allergies, sensory triggers like bright lights or pungent smells, or TMJ (temporomandibular joint dysfunction). Other conditions can cause headaches in patients such as tumors in the brain, or an aneurysm. If you have begun to experience chronic headaches daily it is recommended to keep track of the symptoms you experience, as the changes or lack of changes in your symptoms can help with determining what is triggering or causing your headaches.

When you experience a headache there are some symptoms that can indicate the need to seek medical care such as dizziness, weakness, a loss of coordination (balance issues), trouble with speech such as slurring words, blurring vision, severe nausea and vomiting, or a headache that occurs after a head injury or accident. Since headaches are associated with and partly caused by the brain it is important to seek medical care if you experience any or all of these symptoms, as it can indicate damage to the brain. If you experience headaches normally and have a change in the symptoms which include any of the aforementioned symptoms it’s important to speak with your doctor to determine if this change is due to a developing condition.
 
Some of these symptoms occur during migraine headaches, and for those who have migraines or experienced them previously these symptoms should not be a concern unless you are experiencing migraines more than 3 days a week, the migraine headache gets worse every time, the migraine won’t go away, or you are having to take pain medications daily to keep the headaches at bay.

Headaches can be broken into certain categories considered primary headaches and secondary headaches, these categories are used as there are over 150 types of headaches. Because of the large number of types of headaches, we will go over the most common headaches of each category.
 
Primary headaches include tension-type headaches, migraine headaches, cluster headaches, and new daily persistent headaches (NDPH). These headaches can be triggered by stress, alcohol consumption, consuming nicotine, or coughing and sneezing excessively.
 
Secondary headaches are dehydration headaches, sinus headaches, and medication overuse headaches. These headaches are aptly named for what can trigger them, such as sinus infections, not consuming enough water, and medication-induced headaches.

Other secondary headaches can indicate more life-threatening conditions such as thunderclap headaches which are characterized by a sudden and intense headache that appears like a thunder-clap during a storm, they can be an indication of a brain bleed, head injury or reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome, and you should seek immediate emergency medical care. There are also spinal headaches that can be triggered after having a spinal tap, and this is normal however, if you experience a headache that is prolonged can be an indication of a subdural hematoma or can cause seizures.

Our doctors at San Antonio Pain Consultants specialize in pain and pain associated with headaches and are here to assess your headaches and assist you in determining the cause to manage the pain caused by your headache. For more information, contact us or schedule an appointment online. We are conveniently located at 3903 Wiseman Blvd, Ste 117, San Antonio, TX 78251. We serve patients from San Antonio TX, Balcones Heights TX, Castroville TX, Helotes TX, Fair Oaks TX, Fair Oaks Ranch TX, Alamo Ranch TX, Leon Valley TX, Shavano Park TX, and surrounding areas.