When to Seek Medical Care for a Headache

Whether you get a sharp or dull pain in a part of your head every once in a while or on a regular basis, everyone deals with some form of headache eventually. As one of the most common nervous system disorders, headaches affect 3.1 billion people globally, accounting for about 40% of the entire population. 

Bad headaches can be debilitating and are the third highest cause of years lost to a disabling burden (also known as disability-adjusted life years, or DALYs), just under conditions like stroke and dementia.

Of course, not every painful headache means you need to take a day off, but there’s a point where they can make your life miserable enough to need medical help. If you need help with headaches or other medical problems and you live in the Chicago, Illinois, area, our team of doctors at Michigan Avenue Primary Care is ready to care for your needs.

To determine when your headache requires medical care, we need to look at how headaches work, the causes and types, and what signs may indicate you need to see a doctor.

Headache basics

Headaches can be generally described as pain in your head or face, which can range from mild to severe and come in over 150 varieties. They’re caused by pain signals that interact with blood vessels, nerves, and other areas of your brain, and as many as 96% of people will experience one sometime during their lifetime.

Headache types

Headaches can be categorized in one of two different ways:

Primary

With this headache type, the pain or other symptoms stem from a condition directly affecting your head. These include migraine, cluster, tension, daily persistent, hemicrania continua, and ice pick headaches. 

Primary headaches can be either episodic (happening occasionally and lasting a few minutes or several hours, less than 15 days a month) or chronic (happening more than 15 days a month in varying levels of severity).

Secondary

These headaches stem from an underlying condition where your headache is a symptom rather than the main issue. Things like dehydration, sinus issues, medication overuse, head injuries, brain bleeds, allergies, hormonal changes, exertion, and hypertension can cause this head pain. 

Often, secondary headaches are acute, which means they happen in relation to the underlying problem, and once that problem is treated, the headache goes away. 

Signs you should see a doctor

You’ve likely had a mild headache that’s been calmed with over-the-counter pain relievers, rest, relieving stress, and other common methods of relief. However, if you experience any of the following issues, you should get help as soon as possible:

• Sudden, severe headaches
• Headaches that intensify in certain positions
• Persistent head pain
• Headaches that start with sneezing, coughing, or straining in some way
• Headaches accompanied by night sweats, chills, or fever
• Constant head pain in the same location
• Headaches that come with vision changes, numbness, speech changes, and weakness
• Headaches with no history of head pain
• Headaches that develop at age 50 or over

Headaches are a problem everyone deals with at some point, but if it comes with any of the problems listed above, make an appointment with our team at Michigan Avenue Primary Care today. Call our office or book online.