bad headaches and loads of pressure on my head

by Siobhan
(laois, ireland)

Hi my name is Siobhan and im 14 . I was in hospital for 2 days with bad headaches and a lot of pressure in my head which ive had now for 6 weeks non-stop. Painkillers take the edge of it. I went for a ct scan all clear they thought it was an ENT problem, but its not. I do not have a brain tumour which was ruled out straight away as my dad has one and I do not have a cyst or anything like that. My headaches get worse when its noisy or cold. Any thoughts? I would love to hear. I take painkillers in the form of Panadol and Nurofen ect. I don’t smoke or drink. As mentioned, I have had a CT scan all clear. ENT all clear, blood and urine clear. :) thanks siobhan

Headaches

Hi Siobhan, I wonder whether your headaches are stress induced. You have been through a lot with your father’s brain tumour and this must subconsciously play on your mind. Clearly, structural problems and tumours have been excluded by your CT scan. Tension headache is very common and this might be the cause of your headache. It might also be worth having your eyes checked too as sometimes eye strain can cause headaches to occur. You mention having the CT scan, but sometimes if headaches persist a lumbar puncture is needed. This involves passing a needle in to your spine to take away some fluid called CSF that bathes the brain. This can be tested for various conditions. Also, the pressure in the fluid can be measured to see if you have a condition called benign intracranial hypertension or BIH. This is where the pressure in the fluid increases and causes headache. It is more common in women than men. Hope your headache settles quickly for you and good luck!

My name is Dr Peter Thatcher MBBS, MRCPI and I am a consultant physician and gastroenterologist in the UK. I have an interest in internet based medicine and administer this site in my spare time. I hope you find this site useful and informative. If you have any suggestions, please Contact Me or if you would like to comment on my site, please do so by Clicking Here. If you like the site and would like to make a donation to support what I am doing please do so by Clicking Here. Thank you for visiting and please drop by again!