What does a high blood pressure headache feel like

Table of Contents Show

Mixed headaches
Headache caused by a medication or illness
Low-Pressure Headaches (SIH)
High-Pressure Headaches (IIH)
What part of the head hurts with hypertension?
How do you feel when your blood pressure is high?
How do you get rid of a blood pressure headache?
How long does a blood pressure headache last?

Headaches are familiar to nearly everyone: in any given year, almost 90% of men and 95% of women have at least one. In the vast majority of cases, however, the pain isn't an omen of some terrible disease. The three most common types of headaches are tension, sinus, and migraine. The most common headache triggers are stress, fatigue, lack of sleep, hunger, and caffeine withdrawal.

Mixed headaches

As understanding of the different types of headaches has evolved, researchers have altered some of their beliefs about migraine and tension headaches and the relationship between the two. This is largely because of the realization that some headaches don't neatly fit either category. "Mixed" headaches have characteristics of both types, and because they're hard to classify, treatment can be challenging.

For instance, the more intense a tension headache gets, the more it resembles the sharp, throbbing pain of a migraine headache. Likewise, when a migraine headache becomes more frequent, its pain begins to feel like that of a tension headache. Symptoms of headaches fall along a continuum ordered by their characteristics: the occasional tension headache is at one end and the classic migraine headache is at the other. In between are chronic daily headaches, which can start with features typical of either tension or migraine headache.

Headache caused by a medication or illness

Some headaches are actually symptoms of another health problem. Many non-life-threatening medical conditions, such as a head cold, the flu, or a sinus infection, can cause headache. Some less common but serious causes include bleeding, infection, or a tumor. A headache can also be the only warning signal of high blood pressure (hypertension). In addition, certain medications, such as nitroglycerin and female hormones (prescribed for a contraception or menopausal symptoms) are notorious causes of headache.

Because the following symptoms could indicate a significant medical problem, seek medical care promptly if you experience:

a sudden headache that feels like a blow to the head (with or without a stiff neck)
headache with fever
convulsions
persistent headache following a blow to the head
confusion or loss of consciousness
headache along with pain in the eye or ear
relentless headache when you were previously headache-free
headache that interferes with routine activities.

Always take children who have recurring headaches to the doctor, especially when the pain occurs at night or is present when the child wakes in the morning.

Common types of headaches
Headache Type	What it feels like	Who gets it	How often and for how long
Tension	Mild to moderate steady pain throughout the head, but commonly felt across the forehead or in the back of the head. Generally not accompanied by other symptoms.	Can affect children, but is most common in adults.	Frequency varies. Generally hours in length.
Sinus	Mild to moderate steady pain that typically occurs in the face, at the bridge of the nose, or in the cheeks. May be accompanied by nasal congestion and postnasal drip.	Affects people of all ages. People with allergies seem most vulnerable.	Frequency varies. Generally hours in length. Often seasonal.
Migraine	Moderate to severe throbbing pain, often accompanied by nausea and sensitivity to light and sound. The pain may be localized to the temple, eye, or back of the head, often on one side only. In migraine with aura, visual disturbance precedes the pain.	Typically occurs from childhood to middle age. In children, migraine is slightly more common among males, but after puberty, it's much more common in females.	Attacks last a day or longer. They tend to occur less often during pregnancy and with advancing age.

Image: m-imagephotography/Getty Images

Almost everybody gets a headache once in a while. For some, though, headaches are an inconvenient -- sometimes debilitating -- part of their lives.

If you get regular headaches, it’s important to work with your doctor to uncover the cause and find out how to treat it. That’s not always easy because headaches can be caused by many things, from eating ice cream too quickly, to stroke, to many other serious conditions.

Two types of headaches are caused by a change of pressure inside your skull: Low-pressure headaches (your doctor may call them spontaneous intracranial hypotension, or SIH) and high-pressure headaches (idiopathic intracranial hypertension, or IIH).

Low-Pressure Headaches (SIH)

A low-pressure headache often gets worse when you stand or sit. It can get better if you lie down. It can start at the back of the head, sometimes with neck pain, though it can be felt all over your head. It often gets worse with coughing, sneezing, and exertion. It can come with:

Ringing in your ears
Muffled hearing
Dizziness
Nausea

You might feel a stabbing pain, throbbing, or just overall pressure in your head. SIH is rare and can affect anyone of any age.

Causes: SIH happens because of a leak of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), although the leak is usually in your spine, not your skull. CSF is the “cushioning” fluid that protects your brain and your spine.

Diagnosis: After an exam, your doctor may do MRI and CT scans to figure out what's going on. They may also measure your CSF pressure by putting a needle in your back near your spine. Some experts say that might not help low-pressure headaches that much.

Treatment: Your symptoms may go away by themselves. Sometimes, rest, drinking lots of water, and caffeine may help.

A common treatment is something called an epidural blood patch, which tries to stop your CSF leak. Blood is taken from your arm and injected into an area of your spinal canal to “patch” the leak. This may not work the first time -- the actual spot where the CSF leaks is hard to find -- so you may have to go through the procedure several times. Your doctor may prescribe a medicine called theophylline.

High-Pressure Headaches (IIH)

The symptoms of a high-pressure headache often mimic those of a brain tumor, which is why IIH used to be called “pseudotumor cerebri,” or “false brain tumor.” Those symptoms include:

Migraine-like or throbbing pain that's often worse in the morning
Neck and shoulder pain
Headaches that get worse with coughing, sneezing, or exertion
Severe headaches that last for a long time
Changes in vision or a ringing in the ears

IIH is rare. Only about 100,000 Americans have it. Most of them are obese women of childbearing age.

Causes: IIH is caused by higher pressure in the skull from too much CSF. Obesity is the main reason, though some medications -- including tetracycline, steroids, growth hormone, even too much vitamin A -- can cause it.

Diagnosis: After going over your medical history, your doctor will probably ask for MRI and CT scans to help figure things out. You may have several different kinds of vision tests, too. IIH almost always puts pressure on the optic nerve. This leads to swelling called papilledema. That swelling can greatly affect your vision. It can lead to blindness if it's not caught in time.

Your doctor will give you a spinal tap (they may call it lumbar puncture) to test your CSF pressure. A needle is inserted between two vertebrae in your lower back, and a special tube called a manometer measures the pressure.

Treatment: The best way to ease the effects of IIH is to lose weight. That lowers the pressure on your brain and your optic nerve. You may need weight loss surgery if you're severely obese. Studies show that even modest weight loss of 5%-10% -- done through healthy eating, exercise, and cutting back on salt -- can ease symptoms.

During treatment, regular and complete vision testing should be done, too, to keep an eye on pressure on your optic nerve. In some cases, a medication called acetazolamide is used to cut back on your body's production of CSF. In severe cases, you may need surgery to ease the pressure on your brain. Eye surgery is another possibility.

What part of the head hurts with hypertension?

High blood pressure headaches occur on both sides of the head and pressure on top of head. If you are suffering from head pain on top of your head (at the “hair-band” area), it can probably be a hypertension headache.

How do you feel when your blood pressure is high?

Unfortunately, high blood pressure can happen without feeling any abnormal symptoms. Moderate or severe headaches, anxiety, shortness of breath, nosebleeds, palpitations, or feeling of pulsations in the neck are some signs of high blood pressure.

How do you get rid of a blood pressure headache?

How to relieve a hypertension headache.

Take prescribed blood pressure medication (if you have any).

Call 911 or ask someone to take you to the emergency room..

How long does a blood pressure headache last?

Episodic tension-type headaches can last from 30 minutes to a week. Frequent episodic tension-type headaches occur less than 15 days a month for at least three months. Frequent episodic tension-type headaches may become chronic.