Though headaches can be incredibly annoying, the NHS has some reassuring news: most of them go away on their own, and don’t usually mean anything serious is wrong.
Headaches can be caused by everything from colds and flu to dehydration and stress, and have even been linked to poor posture.
But in very rare occasions, headaches can reveal something bigger’s at play, the NHS adds.
Sharing the signs you should see your GP about the condition, they revealed that feeling a throbbing headache in two areas may warrant further investigation.
Where do more worrying headaches happen?
One sign you may need to visit a doctor is noticing a “a bad throbbing pain at the front or side of your head”, the NHS shared.
This “could be a migraine or, more rarely, a cluster headache,” which both ought to get checked out.
Other signs you need to see a GP include headaches that keep coming back, noticing that painkillers don’t work on your headaches and that they keep getting worse instead, feeling sick or even vomiting during a headache or headaches that regularly occur before or during your period.
You should call 999 or go to A&E if you or your child:
- has a head injury – for example, from a fall or accident
- has a headache that came on suddenly and is extremely painful
Either of you have an extremely painful headache and:
- sudden problems speaking or remembering things
- loss of vision
- feel drowsy or confused
- has a very high temperature and symptoms of meningitis
- the white part of the eye is red
The same applies if your child is under 12 and has any of the following:
- a headache with vision problems or difficulty speaking, swallowing, balancing or walking
- a headache with drowsiness or a persistent lack of energy
- a headache that starts within 5 days of a head injury.
Why do I get more headaches than most?
My partner gets far more headaches than I do (I’m not sure I’ve ever had one), despite us living very similar lifestyles.
A study found that the gene ADARB2 is responsible for a headache-free life, and it looks like I might have that.
About 4% of people studied by researchers at the Danish Headache Centre claimed to have never had a headache.
“Most of the studies have shown there are no specific lifestyle factors that contribute to being free from headaches,” Dr Isa Amalie Olofsson, who researched the topic, told the Migraine Science Collaborative.
“Initially, we thought people who were free from headache were simply super healthy, but the population-based study didn’t show any major difference in sociodemographic characteristics.”