Pain in the forehead area

Pain in the forehead is one of the types of headaches, the causes of which can be various diseases and conditions. All factors that provoke pain in the forehead can be divided into the following groups:

1. Head injuries, including hidden or long-standing ones.
2. Cardiological diseases, vascular etiology.
3. Diseases of infectious etiology.
4. Inflammatory processes.
5. Pathology and diseases of the nervous system.

The nature of the painful sensations can also be varied – from dull, aching pain to sharp, pressing or pulsating pain. Pain in the forehead can be an independent symptom, but can also be combined with other symptoms.

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Causes of pain in the forehead area

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Trauma as a cause of headache in the frontal part

The injury may be a simple bruise that damages only the skin. Pain in the forehead area occurs instantly, accompanied by a hematoma. After a few days, the bruise disappears, going through all the stages of its development, including the color range. If the bruise was severe, then the pain directly from the injury goes away one way or another during the day, and the hematoma may become purulent. In this case, the painful sensations are associated not with the bruise, but with the inflammatory process. The diagnosis of a bruise is made using a visual examination, while additional examinations may be prescribed, such as an X-ray of the skull bones and an electroencephalogram to rule out a concussion.

A more serious, sometimes life-threatening injury is a fracture of the frontal part of the skull. This type of injury is always accompanied by both a concussion and a brain contusion. The symptoms are quite specific: an extensive hematoma, a deformed frontal bone, pain in the forehead, nausea, dizziness to the point of loss of consciousness. Often the fracture is localized in the eye sockets, such an injury is accompanied by sensory disturbances - double vision, inability to focus the gaze. There is also a discharge of cerebrospinal fluid from the nose and ears, which is evidence of the extreme severity of the injury. If the contusion is in the nasal area, then the maxillary and frontal sinuses are damaged, as a result, in addition to pain, severe swelling of the face is noted. Like any other fracture of the facial skeleton, such an injury requires immediate hospitalization and mandatory examination using computed tomography.

Pain in the forehead caused by a bruise is a fairly serious injury that must be diagnosed and differentiated from other pathologies by a neurologist.

Pain in the forehead caused by inflammatory nasal diseases

Acute frontal sinusitis (sinusitis) or frontal sinusitis also causes pain in the forehead. Inflammation develops in the paranasal sinuses - frontal as a result of an acute or chronic respiratory disease. As a rule, the disease is of viral etiology and occurs with all the symptoms inherent in ARVI. Pain caused by frontal sinusitis most often manifests itself in the morning and is one-sided, localized in the part of the forehead where the nasal sinus is most affected. In the initial stage of the disease, painful sensations are almost imperceptible, their intensity increases in parallel with the development of the underlying disease. The cyclic nature of pain in the frontal part of the head is explained by the migration of the virus through the nasopharyngeal part and the bronchopulmonary system. Severe pain in the forehead, provoked by acute sinusitis, is combined with hyperthermia, often with loss of smell, blocked nasal sinuses and difficulty breathing, general malaise. Influenza also has the property of affecting the nasal sinuses, so headaches are one of the specific symptoms of this viral disease. Frontal sinusitis is diagnosed in a medical institution by a doctor specializing in ENT diseases. Frontal sinusitis must be separated from other similar ailments, such as sinusitis and ethmoiditis.

Pain in the forehead caused by inflammation of the maxillary sinuses. Sinusitis almost never occurs without headaches localized in the frontal part of the head. The characteristic symptoms of sinusitis are as follows: painful sensations appear at the same time, accompanied by hyperthermia, fever, nasal congestion and discharge from it. Also, for the inflammatory process in the maxillary sinuses, painful sensations in the cheekbones, often an unpleasant odor caused by mucous secretions of a yellowish-green color, a decrease in the viscous (taste) and olfactory functions are characteristic. Differentiation of sinusitis and frontal sinusitis is carried out by an otolaryngologist (ENT doctor) using a visual examination and X-ray data of the nasal sinuses. With sinusitis, pain in the forehead is localized slightly lower, closer to the nasal sinuses, with frontal sinusitis it manifests itself in the area of the frontal sinuses.

Also, a headache in the frontal area can be provoked by ethmoiditis, which determines the inflammatory process in the ethmoid sinuses of the nose. Pain in the forehead with ethmoiditis is localized a little deeper, as if in the middle of the head. Ethmoiditis, like its "brothers" in the sinusitis category, is accompanied by an elevated body temperature, mucus discharge from the sinuses, and a decrease in the sense of smell.

Infectious causes that provoke pain in the forehead area

Flu, which is accompanied not only by headache, but also by general intoxication, weakness, muscle and joint pain, high temperature. Unlike sinusitis, pain in the forehead caused by the flu virus develops in the first days of the disease, sometimes being the first sign of infection. The pain, as a rule, is diffuse (widespread), it begins in the forehead and "spreads" throughout the head.

Typhus, typhus or typhoid, which is extremely rare nowadays, is also accompanied by a severe headache in the forehead. In addition, the characteristic rash, neurological symptoms, and fever leave no doubt in the diagnosis of this formidable disease.

Malaria, which is considered a natural endemic infection, despite its thousand-year history, has not received a worthy response from modern medicine. Malaria is a general name for transmissible variants of human infection with Plasmodium - proteists, plasmodia. "Swamp fever" quite often provokes pain in the forehead, in addition, rapidly developing, the disease causes a feverish state, spleno- and hepatomegaly (enlargement of the spleen and liver).

Infectious meningitis, which can also be purulent, causes intense pain in the forehead. The characteristic signs of meningococcal infection are the following manifestations: pain in the neck muscles, their rigidity, specific rash, significant increase in body temperature, uncontrollable vomiting.

Encephalitis, which has many varieties - tick-borne, influenza, herpes, measles, toxoplasmosis, can begin with pain in the frontal part of the head, which gradually spreads to the back of the head. The patient complains of dizziness, drowsiness. His condition can worsen to such an extent that in addition to severe vomiting and high temperature, pathological depression of the entire central nervous system can develop, up to a coma.

Cardiovascular diseases

Hypertension, hypotension. Any jump, deviation from the norm in blood pressure leads to a disruption of the blood supply to the brain. Increased pressure is manifested by rapid heartbeat, weakness, a feeling of compression of the head, especially in the eyes. The pain is pulsating and can move from the forehead to the back of the head. It is a misconception that with hypertension the back of the head hurts, and low blood pressure causes pain in the forehead. The pain symptom is localized in the area where the blood flow is disrupted.

VSD is a syndrome whose etiology still remains a mystery for the modern medical world. One way or another, vegetative-vascular crises are often accompanied by characteristic pain in the forehead area. The pain is paroxysmal (attack-like) in nature and is relieved by taking antispasmodics.

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Neurological factor causing pain in the forehead

Hemicrania or migraine. The pain is pulsating, often half-hearted, affecting the left or right side of the head. As a rule, the pain begins in the temples, then it spreads to the frontal area and to the back of the head. Characteristic symptoms of hemicrania are photophobia, irritability, general weakness, negative reaction to smells, sounds, impaired coordination of movements, dizziness. Migraine usually signals itself with a special condition called aura (sensory signs of an approaching attack).

Sudden, cluster pains, which are also called cluster pains. Pain in the forehead area occurs without apparent cause and can subside without the use of any medications or actions. Despite its rather rapid, transient course, cluster pain is so intense that some patients are ready to commit suicide, just to get rid of the torment. Cluster headaches are characterized by cyclicity: they appear in series, then disappear for a long period and can recur again after several years. Unlike the pain caused by migraine, cluster pains do not have an aura, pain in the forehead, temple, eye or back of the head is always one-sided. Paroxysms (attacks) last no more than 15-20 minutes, but are repeated from three to ten times a day. The pain can be present for several weeks and then disappear for two to three years. The most typical symptom of a cluster attack is redness of the eyeball, decreased visual acuity, drooping of the eyelid.

Inflammation of the trigeminal nerve is an extremely painful condition that also causes pain in the forehead. Shooting pain in the face is localized in the area of the trigeminal nerve. The pain spreads to the forehead if the upper branch of the nerve is inflamed, it lasts no more than five minutes, returning to the nervus trigeminus area, often affecting the jaw (teeth).

GBN is a neurotic pain or tension headache, a characteristic sign of mental or psycho-emotional fatigue. Such pain in the forehead is neutralized by adequate rest, sleep, healthy diet, and vitamin therapy.

Pathologies of the musculoskeletal system

Cervical osteochondrosis can signal itself with painful manifestations in the frontal part of the head. Impaired blood supply to the brain due to deformation and degenerative changes in the intervertebral tissues leads to an elementary "blockage" of the conducting vessels. The brain suffers from poor blood supply, headaches appear. Signs that help to establish the cause of the headache and indicate cervical osteochondrosis are hearing loss, tinnitus, dizziness, impaired motor coordination, numbness of the fingertips, radiating pain to the heart or neck, pale skin, nausea.

Ophthalmic causes

Pain in the forehead is often a sign of an eye disease. It can be elementary fatigue as a result of long-term work with texts, at the computer, with documents. Pain is also provoked by glaucoma, myopia, inflammatory diseases of the eye membrane (uveitis), thrombosis of the vascular system of the eyeball, farsightedness, eye tumor.

Oncological causes

Pain in the forehead, especially constant, accompanied by sensory disturbances (reaction to smells, sounds), can be a signal of a developing oncological process. Most often, the tumor affects the frontal lobe of the brain or the frontal bone, causing not only pain in the forehead, but also seizures characteristic of epilepsy. Hemangioma, a vascular tumor pathology, can also manifest itself. Pituitary tumors, in addition to headaches, manifest themselves as visual impairment, eye tumors are accompanied by double vision and asymmetry of the eyes. In any case, diagnosis and confirmation of the oncological process is the prerogative of an oncologist. Self-diagnosis based on the symptoms described above can only lead to neurosis and depression.

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How to eliminate pain in the forehead area?

Since headaches are multifaceted, regardless of their location, and can have many causes that provoke them, it is advisable to treat them with a doctor. If an attack of headache in the frontal part is a consequence of elementary fatigue or the vessels react to weather conditions, you can take analgesics or antispasmodics - spazmalgon, no-shpa, analgin, ibuprofen. A single pain is not a symptom of a serious disease. If attacks of pain are repeated regularly, medical care is needed, headaches are "managed" by neurologists and neurologists. Timely diagnostics, comprehensive examination, adequate therapy will help to cope with such a phenomenon as pain in the forehead.