Severe headache

A headache can be a symptom of various diseases. Even healthy individuals can experience headaches, especially when excited, tired, or after drinking alcohol. Women, particularly those prone to depression, often experience headaches during menstruation and menopause. Pain receptors in the brain coverings, blood vessels, and venous sinuses, along with nerve fibers, can become irritated, leading to headaches.

Irritated nerve fibers from the brain coverings cause pain to manifest at the irritation site. Blood vessels irritating the nerve fibers result in non-localized, widespread pain. Damaged brain blood vessels and insufficient blood supply to the brain cause aching, squeezing, throbbing, and tearing pain.

Headaches that rise gradually and disappear within a few hours are usually not indicative of any disease. Factors such as emotional tension, fatigue, excessive alcohol consumption, and staying in an overheated or smoky environment can cause these headaches. However, a headache lasting more than 24 hours or recurring several times a week indicates a need for medical attention.

Source | Author Doctor Nikas Samuolis, reviewed by Prof. Virginijus Šapoka | Vilnius University | Faculty of Medicine | Head of the Department of Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, and Oncology