Cause | Headaches in the forehead area

Cause

The causes of headaches in the forehead are numerous. Headaches in the forehead are often an expression of overload, stress or lack of sleep and last only for a short time. Headaches in the forehead can also be a concomitant phenomenon of another disorder, such as an infection, craniocerebral trauma, brain tumor, bleeding or cervical spine disease, so a doctor should be consulted if the headache is recurrent, intense or persistent.

Depending on the cause of the headache in the forehead, conservative, e.g. medicinal measures and physiotherapy as well as surgical therapy concepts can be considered. In some cases, forehead headaches can also be caused by other diseases. A distinction is made between primary forms of headache, in which headache alone is the cause of the disorder, and secondary forms of headache, in which forehead pain occurs as part of another disorder.

In more than 80% of cases the two primary headache types migraine and tension headache are the cause of forehead pain, and slightly less frequently another primary headache type is cluster headache (Bing-Horton syndrome). The mechanisms of development of these three disorders have not yet been clearly clarified, but it is suspected that one of the causes is a family disposition. Secondary headaches in the forehead region are less frequent and occur, for example, as an accompanying phenomenon of infections, craniocerebral traumas, brain tumors, bleeding or diseases of the cervical spine. Finding the exact cause of headaches is often not so easy, as they also occur as a belgleitsymptom of other diseases. For headaches in the area of the forehead that persist for a longer period of time or occur from time to time for no apparent reason, a headache diary can help.

Diagnosis

In case of headaches in the forehead that recur constantly, increase in intensity or persist over a longer period of time, it is advisable to consult a doctor. This doctor can make a diagnosis with the help of various examinations. In order to make a diagnosis, a detailed medical history is first of all necessary, i.e. a detailed questioning of the person affected about the underlying diseases and current complaints.

It is particularly important to know the exact location of the headache, whether it is unilateral or bilateral, when exactly and how often the headache in the forehead occurs and how long it lasts, what pain character the headache in the forehead has and whether other complaints such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness, visual disturbances, speech disorders, sensitivity to noise and noise, tears in one eye or nasal discharge accompany the headache in the forehead. This is followed by a physical examination of the affected person, during which blood pressure and body temperature are determined and special attention is paid to neurological deficits. Depending on the results of the examination, a further, more detailed diagnosis by a specialist, for example a neurologist, orthopaedist, ear, nose and throat specialist or ophthalmologist, may be necessary.Possible examinations that may be necessary for forehead pain include blood and cerebral fluid tests, as well as imaging procedures such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head.