Associated symptoms
The accompanying symptoms of swelling of the forehead are highly dependent on the cause. Swelling of the forehead as a result of an allergic reaction can be accompanied by itching, nausea, headache or even shortness of breath. In the worst case, circulatory problems may even occur, which must be considered an emergency.
Swelling due to sunburn is also initially accompanied by itching or burning of the skin and mild pain. Extensive sunburn can even lead to general symptoms such as fever.Bruises, as they occur after an injury, show no further symptoms except their typical red-blue appearance and pain. However, if the bruise occurs as part of a bleeding tendency, a wide variety of symptoms can accompany it, depending on the underlying disease.
Typical in hemophilia are further bruises on the body and joint pain. Headaches are a common symptom accompanying a swelling in the forehead. They cannot be assigned to a specific cause, but rather occur in a wide variety of diseases and conditions.
They are very typical for acute injuries of the head where there is a bump on the forehead. The headache can be caused locally by the injury on the forehead or it can be a sign of a concussion or, in the worst case, even a cerebral haemorrhage. The latter, however, occur in more serious injuries and are rather rare.
Headache can also occur as a result of sunburn or allergy. It is not decisive for isolating the cause, as it is a very common accompanying symptom of a swelling of the forehead. However, headaches in combination with nausea or vomiting should always be a reason for a visit to a doctor, as they can be a sign of increased intracranial pressure after an accident or injury.
Also in the context of an allergy such complaints are to be evaluated as a rather pronounced general reaction and should therefore be clarified medically. Itching on the forehead is an unpleasant symptom that can occur in various underlying diseases. It can be caused by external factors such as light, allergens and creams, but also be a symptom of hormonal changes, skin diseases or stress.
If hives and redness also occur, an allergic reaction may be behind the itching. The reaction can be caused by allergens in the air, sun rays, face and hair care products, headgear or insect bites. Often the temporal connection can determine a certain allergen, which should be avoided from now on.
Skin diseases such as acne, pimples, sunburn and irritation caused by sweat can also be behind the itching. In rare cases, hormonal changes, for example during pregnancy, can also cause itching. The large lymph node stations of the head are located on the lower jaw, the back of the head and the neck.
However, swelling of the lymph nodes can also occur at the temples. In the context of infections, pathogens can cause the lymph nodes to swell. In these cases, the lymph nodes are often painful due to pressure.
Tumor-like lymph node swelling can also manifest itself at the temple and grow in the direction of the forehead. In principle, individual painless swellings should be clarified by a physician, since in rare cases they can be so-called lymphomas. Swollen veins in the forehead are a typical phenomenon that can occur in many people.
Typically, these are veins that take up the blood from body cells and transport it to the heart. The veins on the forehead collect the blood from the skin of the face and the superficial structures of the eye and lead it back through a large circulation to deeper neck veins, from where it reaches the heart. In contrast to the arteries, the blood in the veins flows very slowly, not pulsating and with a much lower pressure.
The veins can lie very superficially under the skin, as is often visible on the hands and arms. Through various bodily processes, the blood flow in the veins of the skin can be increased. This can be the case with high pressure inside the body or with an increased body temperature.
As a result, blood collects in the skin veins, causing them to swell and protrude visibly from the forehead. Most affected people report that the veins become prominent especially after sports, when going to the toilet or when screaming or singing. This is related to the increase in pressure in the chest or the rise in body temperature. How much the veins protrude varies greatly from person to person. Overall, however, it is a completely harmless phenomenon.
