What are Cough Headaches? An Overview

Coughing hard can sometimes lead to a headache. Although cough headache is a rare type of headache, about one in a hundred people experience this kind of a headache sometime in life.

Headaches occurring as a result of coughing, sneezing, blowing your nose, straining yourself during excretion or simply bending down are termed as cough headaches. While some of these could occur due to serious intracranial diseases, most of them are not malignant. There are two types of cough headaches - primary and secondary.

Primary cough headaches:
These are benign headaches triggered by strain like coughing and sneezing or Valsalva maneuvers, and are not associated with intracranial disorders. The cause of primary cough headaches is not known, although increased intracranial pressure is generally thought to be the primary reason.

Characteristics of primary cough headaches:
* Sudden onset
* Sharp, piercing pain for duration between one second to 30 minutes
* Dull pain thereafter, possibly lasting for hours
* Usually on both sides of the skull, sometimes at the back
* Not associated with nausea, vomiting, increased light or sound sensitivity, conjunctival injection, rhinorrhea, or lacrimation.

Primary cough headaches occur at an average age of 55 years. They usually alleviate on their own, but preventive treatment can be sought.

Preventive treatment of primary cough headaches:
* Indomethacin (anti-inflammatory)
* Acetazolamide (diuretic to decrease fluid pressure)
* Topiramate (anti-seizure)
* Spinal tap procedure (lumbar puncture through which cerebrospinal fluid is removed in a small quantity to help reduce intracranial pressure)

Spinal tap is rarely needed and doctors will most probably put you on simple daily medications that help reduce pressure in the skull.

Secondary cough headaches:

These are serious, caused by intracranial disorders like:

* Irregular shape of the skull
* Brain protruding through the base of the skull
* Chiari type 1 malformations
* Carotid or vertebrobasilar disease
* cerebral aneurysms

Characteristics of secondary cough headaches:

* Pain precipitated by head or postural changes
* Both sides of the brain
* Can occur at any age.

Diagnosis:

Diagnostic neuro-imaging can differentiate secondary cough headaches from primary ones. An MRI of the brain can determine whether malformations in the skull are behind the headache. Careful evaluation to find out the underlying cause is crucial for these uncommon types of headache.

Treatment of secondary cough headaches:

Preventive treatments are of no use in secondary cough headaches. The only option usually available to doctors is surgery.

source: www.headacheupdates.com

Self Care to Control Headache- A Few Tips

Almost everyone has suffered from headaches at some point of time or the other. Occasional headaches are, then, natural. However, a recurring pattern of headaches can wreck havoc on your life. And though you can counter them with the help of medication, prolonged use of medication can make you dependent. Hence, it is best that you take some steps on your own to eliminate headaches from your life.

Opt For a Healthy Lifestyle

In order to rid your self of tension headaches, it is essential that you lead a healthy lifestyle. This includes the following.

* Eat nutritious and balanced meals on designated intervals. Sufficient calories and other vital nutrients are essential for the body to work properly.

* In order to stay mentally sharp, it is essential that you engage in a daily routine of exercise. This would help you stay fit. It would also keep your body cholesterol low and your energy levels high.

* Take rest for a minimum of six hours a day. Your body needs to recuperate and rejuvenate itself from the hard-work and wear and tear that it has seen through-out the day. Without this rest, body parts and functions may lose their synchronous movement.

* Despite its ability to help curb headaches, do not consume too much caffeine. Too much caffeine can increase the headache and make you feel irritated.

Don't Put Yourself under Too Much Stress

* Instead of doing too many things at the same time, it is best that you concentrate your attention only a selected things of utmost importance. This would help your mind to relax.

* Instead of postponing the work in the future, it is better that you finish it today itself. Also, better time management is something which is important. An updated to-do list both at office and home can help in this regard.

* It is best that you pamper yourself with a break when you think you have overshot your work limit. This would help you recharge your batteries and come back rejuvenated.

* Reflect a positive attitude towards the things around you.

Keep a Positive Body Attitude

* It is better that you always keep a positive body attitude. Walk, sit and move properly. Do not get into awkward positions.

* Keep your muscles relaxed. If you feel your body muscles slipping into a tensed state, treat them with either a hot water treatment or an ice pack.

* Go for a body massage when you feel that different parts of your body are becoming tensed.

* Practice deep breathing regularly. Try to hold your breath for two-three minutes. Concentrate your thoughts in the meanwhile.

* If possible, practice yoga.

source: www.headacheupdates.com

Acute vs. Chronic

Acute conditions are conditions that are new. Perhaps they were caused by a trauma like a slip and fall, or an auto accident. Perhaps a youngster fell off his bike or skate board. Perhaps your body just wasn't ready for spring cleaning this year. These types of conditions normally need frequent treatments, especially in the initial stages. During the beginning of these conditions, there is typically swelling and pain, with difficulty in the performing of normal everyday activities. While the length of time acute conditions take to respond, varies depending on the severity of the complaint. The more thorough the treatment, the better the chance that the condition is resolved. This will help prevent the condition from turning into a chronic situation.

Chronic conditions are health situations that have been present for longer periods of time. In many cases an injury or illness that occurred many years ago is still present. Sometimes it is simply the nature of the condition. A diabetic situation is a good example. However, in many cases the chronicity of the condition was caused by not treating the original condition to the degree that was needed. In our chiropractic office, we see this all the time. A typical case would have a patient having lower back or neck pain. The patient is treated correctly and is recovering nicely. However, before full correction can be attained, the lack of pain leads the patient to stop treatment. Of course, the patient will continue with his normal everyday activities because he feels well. What the patient fails to realize is that these normal activities are usually the activities that, over time, brought on the original condition. It would be easy to see from this example how a condition would go on and on over time. At some point the condition becomes incurable, and has to be managed instead. This is the typical scenario of a patient who needs lifetime chiropractic care. Just like the diabetic needs insulin for the rest of his life, the chronic back patient needs chiropractic support to not only help his pain level, but to slow down the progression of the condition.

Source: www.chiroweb.com

What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is a philosophy of health care that concentrates on helping the body function the way it was designed. What do I mean by that? Consider how many times in your life you had to REMIND your body to breathe, pump blood, or digest food. These functions of life happen automatically. Quite frankly, when the body works well, it works VERY well!

However, the realities of life give us certain circumstances that interfere with the normal functioning of our bodies. Since the brain and nervous system control body functions, Chiropractic focuses on maintaining the health of your nerves, organs, and connective tissue (muscles, tendons, and ligaments) so that the body can continue to operate normally. Emphasis is given to the body's ability to heal itself.

From the Chiropractic perspective, a poorly functioning spinal column is the cause of many different ailments. Any type of situation, whether it be a traumatic injury, wear and tear over many years, or any other stress, can cause the nervous system to stop working at its ultimate capacity. That can breed pain or discomfort and can affect how the organs of your body function. I'm sure you can see how this would affect your overall health and lifestyle. Treatment in a Chiropractic office consists of gently adjusting or manipulating the spine, as well as exercise recommendations, physical therapy, and rehabilitative activities. Chiropractic physicians will answer your questions on nutrition and any other health-related question. Chiropractors refer to other health care providers when the condition warrants additional medical intervention.

While many patients visit Chiropractors when they are in pain, there is great benefit in addressing your overall health from a preventative point of view. For example, to use an old analogy, what would be easier and more beneficial? To attempt to straighten a curved Oak tree, or make sure the sapling grows straight to begin with? While this may not do justice to the human condition, in reality this analogy is very accurate. Prevention is ALWAYS easier than helping an injury or health issue. Another benefit of prevention is to allow the person to have an optimal health level. This helps the patient enjoy the lifestyle they choose rather than having their health conditions make that choice for them!



source: www.chiroweb.com

Health Conditions Not Normally Associated With Chiropractic Care.

This section has been written to address a commonly misunderstood aspect of chiropractic treatment. Many people understand that chiropractic helps conditions such as headaches, neck pain, back pain, and auto injuries to name a few. The list goes on and on. However, mention allergies, asthma, menstrual problems, stomach pains or any other organic symptom, and most people would cringe and say, "No way!"

It is true that many of these symptoms can indicate more serious problems and should be evaluated by your team of health care providers to be sure of the cause of these symptoms. However, the real reason why many folks don't understand that in some cases, chiropractic can help the above-mentioned conditions, is that some of our earliest colleagues never explained how it might be possible. I will attempt to do so in the next few paragraphs.

Let's start by stating a few facts. The brain controls and coordinates all bodily functions. Since approximately 95% of this information must travel though the spinal cord before reaching the appropriate organs and tissues, the spine must be working properly for that transfer to occur. If there is restriction of this nerve information it would be easy to understand that some type of malfunction could occur.

Your chiropractor evaluates the areas of the spine that would be associated with the major symptoms reported. If there was significant difficulty in that particular region of the spine, it would follow that the chiropractor would have a potential opportunity to help the particular condition. If, however, the spine associated with the particular symptoms was functioning properly, the chiropractor would not be able to accept the patient for treatment.

Chiropractic is most well known for helping neuromuscular/structural types of conditions. This article was written to help you understand that there are times when organic symptoms are caused by structural problems in the spine. Utilize your team of physicians to enjoy the best level of health.

source: www.chiroweb.com

Chiropractic and Senior Citizens

Chiropractic treatment is available for senior citizens and offers a variety of different health care strategies, depending on the severity of the condition, as well as the general health of the patient. For those seniors who are in good physical health and lead an active physical lifestyle, chiropractic can offer significant help in many cases. These patients are treated with pain relief and stabilization in mind so that they can return to the active lifestyle that they enjoy.

Occasionally, some seniors enter our office with significant additional health problems. Sometimes these additional health problems can slow down the progress that may be expected under chiropractic care. While there can still be wonderful benefits for these types of cases, the ultimate goals must be tempered so as to be realistic for the particular patient.


Goals that can be expected.

• Complete pain relief with return to active lifestyle.
• Partial pain relief with return to most activities.
• Partial pain relief with return to only specific activities.
• Slowing down the progression of the condition in advanced degenerative situations.

If you notice in the goals listed above, there is quite a difference between goal 1 and goal 4. This is usually due to the health history of the patient, with goal 4 patients having significant degeneration already present, inactive lifestyle, or perhaps significant other health issues already in place. Even in goal 4 patients there can significant help attained because these patients typically appreciate the opportunity to slow down the rate at which their conditions become worse.

Upon examination and consultation, the goals that can be expected will be explained to you. Please remember that those patients in this category need to be more patient with treatment as they typically respond slower to care than patients who are younger. While this fact may seem obvious, it needs to be stated so that patients can have proper expectations.

In many cases there are no unrealistic goals, just an unrealistic time frame.
-- unknown author


Source: www.chiroweb.com

Headaches

Headaches can be caused by a number of factors. Many headaches can be traced to neck or cranial bone misalignments. Fortunately, chiropractic has a number of answers for these types of headaches. To start, be careful of naming a headache. The majority of patients who have come to my office with a specific name for their headaches ended up NOT having the type of headache that was originally stated. By definition, migraines are one-sided headaches. This is just one of many examples of a label being incorrect.

The bottom line is this: As a chiropractor I can have an excellent chance of helping the headache if the examination or xrays indicate some type of malposition of the neck region or cranial bones. For example, if a patient enters my office with headaches, and upon examination and xray, his neck and cranial bones are in excellent condition, I will not accept that patient for treatment. The areas that I would treat are already working properly in this example; therefore, there must be a different cause for his headaches. By the same token, a patient may enter my office noting that he has been told nothing could be done for his headaches, or that he has to live with them. If, upon examination and xray I find the neck or cranial bones misaligned, there is a good chance that chiropractic treatment can be helpful.

Many headaches can be related to auto injuries, sinus difficulties, or any other neck-related symptom. While there are other causes of headaches, these are the types of headaches that chiropractic works best with. The nerves of the neck, when irritated can lead to head pain that travels from the neck to the top of the skull and around the ears. Sometimes the pain can radiate into the face or eyes. These headaches can make it difficult to think clearly. Whatever the type of pain you have, a thorough chiropractic evaluation will help lead you in the right direction. If at any time we feel that your headaches are caused by something that chiropractic cannot help, you will be referred to the appropriate specialist.

source: www.chiroweb.com