Associated symptoms | Headache with a cold

Associated symptoms

A cold typically runs its course in different phases: at the beginning, the affected persons often notice a scratching in the throat, which can also worsen up to sore throat with accompanying difficulty in swallowing. The next stage is usually followed by the classic headaches and aching limbs. In this phase, there is often an increase in body temperature up to a fever, which can be preceded by chills.

At the peak of the cold, headaches and aching limbs become maximal, and a feeling of increased tiredness, exhaustion and listlessness may also occur. In addition, a cold can also occur, which can sometimes spread to a sinusitis, which in turn leads to a more severe headache symptomatology. If the flu infection does not remain locally limited to the upper respiratory tract but “drags on” into the deeper respiratory tract, a chesty cough, a productive cough, hoarseness and throat pain due to an accompanying laryngitis or bronchitis can also occur.

• Sore throat
• Swallowing difficulties
• Limb Pain
• Neck Pain
• Fever
• Cough
• Sniffles
• Earache

The most common cause of neck pain is tension in the neck and/or back muscles. During a cold, these can occur, especially if the patient lies down a lot during the illness. Nevertheless, caution is also advised when neck pain occurs during a cold: In the case of a viral or bacterial cold, the pathogens can also spread to the meninges, causing them to become inflamed (meningitis) and lead to headaches and neck pain (or neck stiffness).

The risk of this increases when a cold leads to sinusitis. Some of the paranasal sinuses are only separated from the brain and its meninges by a paper-thin layer of bone, so that it is quite possible for pathogens to migrate through this layer of bone. This sometimes life-threatening complication of a cold, which is only a trivial one, should be treated by a doctor immediately.

For this reason, a doctor is urgently recommended for severe neck and headaches during a flu-like infection. If eye pain occurs during a cold, an inflammation of the paranasal sinuses is often responsible. If the pathogens that cause the cold (usually viruses, more rarely bacteria) spread through the nasal cavity further into the paranasal sinuses, an inflammatory swelling of the mucus there occurs, as well as an increased production and congestion of secretions.

The resulting increased pressure in the sinus system can cause various symptoms. Depending on which paranasal sinuses are affected, toothache, earache, headache and eye pain can also occur. Eye pain occurs particularly when the ethmoidal cells or even the sinuses are affected.Because of the immediate proximity to the eye sockets, there is also increased pressure on the optic nerve, which in turn causes the eye pain.

Often the eye pain is then accompanied by visual disturbances in the form of blurred images. In addition, there can also be increased pressure on the eye muscles, so that the eye can no longer move as well and double images are created. The main reason for toothache is a defect in the teeth or gums themselves, which can also coincide with a cold.

But it is also possible that the cold itself causes toothache. Often these are localized in the upper jaw in particular, whereby they are usually caused by an inflammation of the maxillary sinus. If an inflammation of the paranasal sinuses occurs during a cold, the viscous secretion accumulates so that, among other things, there may be increased pressure on the roots of the teeth in the upper jaw.

In some cases, the mucous membrane of the nose and sinuses as well as the mucous membrane in the middle ear can also become inflamed. This can either be the case when the flu-like infection of the upper respiratory tract spreads or when the weakened immune system additionally causes an infection with certain pathogens that can specifically trigger an inflammation of the middle ear. It is therefore not uncommon for cold pathogens to spread into the middle ear because there is a direct connection between the nasal/paranasal sinuses, throat and middle ear.

In adults, however, coinfection of the middle ear is less common, and more common in children. Inflamed sinuses, especially those of the ethmoid cells and the sphenoidal bone, can also cause earache. Pain in the limbs is a symptom of colds that almost everyone knows.

Once the viruses have spread in the body, it does not take long before the quite agonizing feeling of aching muscles, bones, hairline and skin areas sets in. These aching limbs as well as the headaches that often accompany them are caused by certain messenger substances of the immune system that are released by certain defence cells. They not only lead to an increased number of defense cells being attracted, but also to an increase in the body’s sensitivity to pain.

Even if it is an unpleasant symptom, it also shows that the body is running at full speed and is doing everything it can to ward off the invading pathogens. Sore throats often occur in the context of a cold, especially in the first few days, the first symptom the patient feels is an unpleasant scratching in the throat. Sometimes it can even increase to a sore throat, so that swallowing is felt as unpleasant and painful.

As the cold progresses, the sore throat often disappears, provided it is a common viral infection of the upper respiratory tract. However, some pathogens (viruses or bacteria) also specifically trigger pharyngitis, laryngitis or tonsillitis, with sore throat being the main symptom. However, laryngitis in particular can also be caused by the spread of cold pathogens when the immune system is weakened.