Most of the time, headaches are just a nuisance. But if a headache gets bad enough, it could be the sign of something really concerning.
So is It just an inconvenient head pain that will go away with time, or is it something you should see a doctor for?
Here’s a breakdown of the different headaches you need to worry about.
- If you get a headache after an injury…you should definitely go see a doctor. Especially if you hit your head on something and didn’t think it was serious enough for a concussion, since this may be a sign that the hit may have been more serious than you thought. Even a small injury could cause brain bleeding, which would be what’s causing the headache.
- If your headache gets worse when you’re walking…seek medical attention, since this should be the sign of a brain tumor. This is also true if you go to bed with a headache and you wake up with a worse one.
- If you feel like it’s the worst headache you’ve ever had…this could be a sign of a brain aneurysm, which could cause vomiting, confusion, and stiff neck in addition to headache and upper neck pain.
- If you get frequent, severe headaches that happen without warning…It could be a thunderclap headache as a result of brain bleeding. This could be caused by a past stroke, head injury, or aneurysm.
- If you get a headache that comes on suddenly…you should get to an emergency room, especially if it’s accompanied by numbness on one side of your body, if you have difficulty talking, seeing, or walking. You could be having a heart attack.
And of course, if a headache just makes you feel weird in any way that worries you, there’s nothing wrong with going to see a doctor about it.
