Pain in forehead region

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

1. Head trauma, including hidden or old. 
2. Diseases of the cardiovascular system, vascular etiology. 
3. Diseases of infectious etiology. 
4. Inflammatory processes. 
5. Pathology and diseases of the nervous system.

The nature of pain can also be varied - from stupid, aching pains to acute, pressing or pulsating pain. Pain in the forehead can be an independent sign, but it can also be combined with other symptoms.

[1], [2], [3], [4]

Causes of pain in the forehead region

[5], [6]

Trauma as the cause of headache in the frontal part

Trauma can be a simple bruise, which damages only the skin. Pain in the forehead region occurs instantaneously, accompanied by a hematoma. A few days later, the bruise disappears, passing through all stages of its development, including the color spectrum. If the bruise was strong, then the pain directly from the injury one way or another passes during the day, and the bruise can be festered. In this case, the painful sensations are not associated with a bruise, but with an inflammatory process. The diagnosis of the injury is made with the help of a visual examination, with the possibility of additional examinations, such as the X-ray of the bones of the skull and an electroencephalogram, to exclude a concussion of the brain. 

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 a concussion and a bruise of the brain. Symptoms are quite specific: extensive hematoma, deformed frontal bone, pain in the forehead, nausea, dizziness until loss of consciousness. Often the fracture is localized in the orbit region, such a trauma is accompanied by sensory disturbances - double vision, inability to focus the eye. There is also a discharge of cerebral cerebrospinal fluid from the nose and ears, which is evidence of the extreme severity of the injury. If the bruise fell on the nose, the maxillary and frontal sinuses are damaged, as a result, in addition to pain, there is a strong puffiness in the face. Like any other fracture of the facial skeleton, such a trauma requires immediate hospitalization and compulsory examination using computed tomography.

Pain in the forehead caused by a bruise is a serious enough trauma, which the neurologist should diagnose, as well as differentiate from other pathologies.

Pain in forehead caused by inflammatory nasal diseases

Acute frontal sinusitis (sinusitis) or frontalitis also causes pain in the forehead area. Inflammation develops in the nasal paranasal sinuses - frontal as a result of acute or chronic respiratory disease. As a rule, the disease of a viral etiology and proceeds with all, inherent in ARVI, symptomatology. The pain caused by the frontitis is most often manifested in the morning and is one-sided, localizing in that part of the forehead where the nasal sinus is most affected. In the initial stage of the disease, pain sensations are almost invisible, their intensity increases in parallel with the development of the underlying disease. The cyclical nature, which is characteristic of pain in the frontal part of the head, is explained by the migration of the virus through the nasopharyngeal part and the broncho-pulmonary system. Severe pain in the forehead area, provoked by acute sinusitis, is combined with hyperthermia, often with loss of smell, blocked sinuses and difficulty breathing, general malaise. The flu also has the property of affecting the nasal sinuses, so headaches are one of the specific symptoms of this viral disease. Frontitis is diagnosed in a medical institution by a doctor specializing in ENT diseases. Frontite must be separated from other similar ailments, such as sinusitis and etmoiditis. 

Pain in the forehead area caused by inflammation of the maxillary sinuses. Sinusitis almost never flows without headaches localized in the frontal part of the head. Characteristic symptoms of sinusitis are: painful sensations appear at the same time, accompanied by hyperthermia, fever, nasal congestion and secretions from it. Also for the inflammatory process in the maxillary sinuses, there are painful sensations in the cheekbones, often an unpleasant smell caused by mucous secretions of a yellowish-green color, a decrease in the gustatory (taste) and olfactory functions. Differentiation of maxillary sinusitis and frontitis is performed by an otolaryngologist (ENT doctor) with visual examination and data from an x-ray examination of the nasal sinuses. With genyantritis, the pain in the forehead region is localized somewhat lower, closer to the sinuses, with the front it manifests itself in the frontal sinus zone. 

Also, the headache in the frontal area can be triggered by ethmoiditis, which determines the inflammatory process in the sinuses of the sinuses. Pain in the forehead with ethmoiditis is localized a little deeper, as if in the middle of the head. Etmoiditis, like its "brethren" in the category of sinusitis, is accompanied by an increased body temperature, mucus discharge from the nasal sinuses, a decrease in the sense of smell. 

Infectious causes of pain in the forehead area

Influenza, which is accompanied not only by a headache, but also by general intoxication, weakness, aching in muscles, joints, high fever. Unlike sinusitis, pain in the forehead caused by the influenza virus develops in the early days of the disease, being, at times, the first sign of infection. Pain, as a rule, is diffuse (widespread), it begins with the forehead zone and "spreads" over the entire head. 

Typhus, rash or abdominal, which is very rare in our time, is also accompanied by a severe headache in the forehead. In addition, a characteristic rash, neurological symptoms, fever leave no doubt in the diagnosis of this terrible disease. 

Malaria, which is considered a natural endemic infection, despite its thousand-year history, has not received a worthy rebuff from modern medicine. Malaria is the common name for transmissible variants of human infection with Plasmodium - proteas, plasmodia. "Swamp fever" often provokes pain in the forehead, in addition, rapidly developing, the disease causes fever, splenic and hepatomegaly (increase in the size of the spleen and liver). 

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

Encephalitis, which has many varieties - tick-borne, influenza, herpetic, 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 fever, the pathological oppression of the entire central nervous system, up to the coma, may develop. 

Cardiovascular diseases

Hypertension, hypotension. Any jump, a deviation from the norm in the arterial pressure leads to a disruption of the blood supply to the brain. Increased pressure is manifested by rapid heartbeat, weakness, a sense of squeezing the head, especially in the eyes. The pain is of a pulsating nature and can move from the forehead to the occiput. The fallacy is the opinion that if the neck is hurting with hypertension, and low blood pressure causes pain in the forehead area. The pain symptom is localized in the zone where the blood flow is disturbed. 

VSD is a syndrome whose etiology remains a mystery to the modern medical world. In any case, vegetative-vascular crises are often accompanied by characteristic pains in the forehead zone. The pain is paroxysmal (paroxysmal) and is withdrawn by the use of antispasmodics. 

[7], [8], [9]

Neurological factor, which causes pain in the forehead area

Hemikrania or migraine. The pain is pulsating, often half-hearted, grabbing the left or right side of the head. As a rule, the pain begins with the temples, then it spreads to the frontal zone 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. Usually, a migraine signals a special condition called aura (sensory signs of an approaching attack). 

Sudden, cluster pain, which is also called bundle pain. Pain in the forehead region occurs for no apparent reason and can subside without the use of any medication or action. Despite its fairly rapid, transitory course, cluster pain is so intense that some patients are ready to commit suicide, if only to get rid of torment. For cyclic headaches, cyclicity is characteristic: they appear in series, then disappear for a long period and can recur after several years. Unlike the pain caused by migraine, there is no aura in the beam pain, the pain in the forehead, temple, eye or occiput is always one-sided. Paroxysms (seizures) last no more than 15-20 minutes, but are repeated three to ten times a day. Pain may be present for several weeks, and then disappear for two to three years. The most typical symptom of a cluster attack is the redness of the eyeball, the reduction in visual acuity, the descent of the eyelid. 

Inflammation of the trigeminal nerve is an extremely painful condition, which also provokes pain in the forehead area. 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 trigeminus nervus zone, often affecting the jaw (teeth). 

HDN - neurotic pain or tension headache, a characteristic sign of mental or psychoemotional overwork. Such pain in the forehead area is neutralized by proper rest, sleep, observance of a healthy diet, vitamin therapy.

The pathology of the musculoskeletal system

Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine can signal itself with painful manifestations in the frontal part of the head. Disturbance of blood supply to the brain due to deformation and degenerative changes in the intervertebral tissues leads to an elementary "blockage" of conducting vessels. The brain suffers from poor blood supply, there is a headache. Symptoms that help to establish the cause of the headache and point to cervical osteochondrosis are hearing loss, tinnitus, dizziness, impaired motor coordination, numbness of fingertips, irradiating pain in the heart or neck, pallor of the skin, nausea.

Ophthalmic Causes

Pain in the forehead area is often a sign of eye disease. It can be an elementary fatigue as a result of long work with texts, at the computer, with documents. Also, the pain provokes glaucoma, myopia, inflammatory diseases of the eye (uveitis), thrombosis of the vascular system of the eyeball, hyperopia, swelling of the eye.

Cancer causes

Pain in forehead, especially permanent, accompanied by sensory disturbances (reaction to smells, sounds), can be a signal about 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 region, but also seizures characteristic of epilepsy. Hemangioma can also be manifested - vascular tumor pathology. Neoplasms of the pituitary gland, in addition to the headache, exhibit visual impairment, eye tumors are accompanied by double vision and asymmetry of the eyes. In any case, the diagnosis and confirmation of the oncological process is the prerogative of the oncologist. Self-diagnosis on the symptoms described above can lead only to neurosis and a depressive state.

[10], [11], [12]

How to eliminate pain in the forehead?

In connection with the fact that the headache is multifaceted, regardless of the location of the localization, and can have a variety of reasons provoking it, it is advisable to treat it with the help of a doctor. If the attack of a headache in the frontal part is a consequence of an elementary fatigue or the vessels react to weather conditions, you can take analgesic or spasmolytic drugs - spasmalgon, no-shpu, analgin, ibuprofen. Single pain is not a symptom of a serious illness. If the seizures are repeated regularly, medical care is necessary, headaches are managed by neuropathologists, neurologists. Timely diagnosis, comprehensive examination, adequate therapy will help to cope with such a phenomenon as pain in the forehead.