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Cephalalgia
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Symptoms of Headache

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The pain can be located in one part of the head or may affect the whole head in general. The intensity of the pain is usually moderate or severe, and can sometimes be disabling for the patient, forcing them to go to bed and stop all their activities. The frequency of the episodes is variable, varying between one and four or five a month. The duration of a migraine attack generally does not exceed 24 hours, although they can be very short (three or four hours), or very long (up to three days).

The type of pain experienced with cephalalgia can be:

Person with hand on temple with headache

Electric pain (shock).

Arrows indicating pressure on the head

Oppressive pain (like in a helmet).

Headache with an electrocardiogram representing temple palpitations

Pulsatile pain (like a beat).

Expanding headache

Piercing pain (like a drill)

Explosive headache

Explosive pain.

In visible form, the following symptoms may be detected:

Drooping eyelid

Eyelids more closed (palpebral oedema).

Person with eyes half closed

Droopy eyelids.

One eye with a dilated pupil and the other eye with a normal pupil

Differences between pupil dilation (anisocoria).

Person with a tear, crying

Watery eyes.

Irritated red eye

Reddening of eyes.

Person with headache and dizziness

Vertigo.

Woman vomiting into the toilet

Nausea and vomiting.

There are certain symptoms that require a practically immediate visit to the doctor:

Blurred and black-dotted vision of a person

Changes in vision such as black spots, bright lights, visual distortion, double vision, etcetera.

Man with inability or difficulty to speak

Weakness in a limb, problems in talking.

Person with lack or loss of sensation in one arm and one leg

Sensation of pins and needles in arms and legs.

Man with skin blemishes

Skin eruptions.

Woman trembling with motor instability

Dizziness or instability on standing.

Woman with a normal eye and the other swollen

Droopy eyelids or changes in the size of the pupils.

Cervical pain

Neck stiffness.

Daytime and night-time fever thermometer

Fever.

Person with sweat, nausea and vomiting next to a toilet

Vomiting that cannot be stopped (uncontrollable).

The aura in migraine

On rare occasions, headache can be a sign of a more serious cause, such as:

  • Bleeding in the area between the brain and a layer of the meninges, the arachnoids that cover it (subarachnoid haemorrhage).
  • Very high blood pressure.
  • Brain infection, such as meningitis or encephalitis or an abscess.
  • Brain tumour.
  • Accumulation of fluid inside the skull that causes brain swelling (secondary or idiopathic hydrocephalus, also known as a cerebral pseudo-tumour).
  • Carbon monoxide poisoning.
  • Lack of oxygen during sleep (sleep apnoea).
  • Block or rupture of the cerebral arteries and veins (stroke).
Read more Diagnosis
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Substantiated information by:

Neus Fabregat i Fabra
Víctor Obach Baurier

Published: 16 May 2018
Updated: 16 May 2018

The donations that can be done through this webpage are exclusively for the benefit of Hospital Clínic of Barcelona through Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica and not for BBVA Foundation, entity that collaborates with the project of PortalClínic.

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