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Question of the Day
Sep. 13th, 2003 07:12 amQ: What causes headaches?
With the exception of migraine headaches, which are a different type of headache, headaches are simply painful symptoms of an underlying systemic problem or cause.
No specific cause can be fingered as the culprit responsible for the end result of a painful headache.
A multitude of causes exist for a headache, each of which has a different trigger mechanism, but the resulting headache in all cases is a red flag signaling a disorder somewhere in the body or in the nervous system.
In most cases, the anatomy of a headache can be dissected and understood, once it is traced back to its physical or neurological origin. The actual pain we experience does not stem from the actual brain matter contained in the skull, but from the pain felt by the sensitive coverings of the brain, and of the large veins and arteries which drain fluid from the brain. Sinus, tooth, ear, and muscle pain produce headaches by radiating the pain to these sensitive coverings when they tense, and when the muscles spanning the neck and the base of the skull contract.
With the exception of migraine headaches, which are a different type of headache, headaches are simply painful symptoms of an underlying systemic problem or cause.
No specific cause can be fingered as the culprit responsible for the end result of a painful headache.
A multitude of causes exist for a headache, each of which has a different trigger mechanism, but the resulting headache in all cases is a red flag signaling a disorder somewhere in the body or in the nervous system.
In most cases, the anatomy of a headache can be dissected and understood, once it is traced back to its physical or neurological origin. The actual pain we experience does not stem from the actual brain matter contained in the skull, but from the pain felt by the sensitive coverings of the brain, and of the large veins and arteries which drain fluid from the brain. Sinus, tooth, ear, and muscle pain produce headaches by radiating the pain to these sensitive coverings when they tense, and when the muscles spanning the neck and the base of the skull contract.
