What Causes Headaches At The Front Of Your Head?
At one time or another, we've all gotten headaches. According to Cleveland Clinic, headaches are the most common kind of pain and one of the main reasons for doctor's visits and missed work or school days. Tension headaches tend to be the most common type, although there are more than 150 types of headaches that people can be stricken with.
Certain types of headaches can be hereditary. Headaches can run a wide gamut in terms of how often they occur, as well as how severe they can be (via the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke). Some people might experience a headache once or twice per year, while others may have them for half of the days of a given month. Headaches are caused when certain triggers such as stress, medications, odors, or certain foods, cause pain-sensitive nerve endings called nociceptors to react.
Banner Health notes that the location of your headache can be an indication of what is going on, with pain on one side of your head often indicating a migraine, and tension headaches being associated with a band of pain around your head. Tension headaches can also be identified by pain in the front of the head. According to Medical News Today, headaches in this area of the head can actually be triggered by a few different things.
Headaches at the front of the head can be a few different things
A headache at the front of your head may be known as a frontal lobe headache if it occurs in the forehead or temples (via Healthline). Unlike certain other headaches, such as migraines, frontal lobe headaches don't trigger symptoms such as nausea, nor are they caused by things like noise, light, odor, or physical activity. The pain from these headaches has been described as a vise gripping the head, usually on both sides.
According to Medical News Today, there are four types of headaches that are likely to manifest at the front of the head: tension headaches, headaches caused by eye strain, cluster headaches, and sinus headaches. Of these, tension headaches are the most common, and present as a dull, constant aching that tends to start behind the eyes or in the forehead or temples. There are a few triggers for these kinds of headaches, including stress, anxiety, and depression. However, they can also be caused by tiredness, musculoskeletal neck problems, or even bad posture.
Eye strain headaches can occur when you've been focused on something, such as a computer screen, for a long time (via Healthline). If you have a headache brought on by eye strain, you can try the "20-20-20" rule, which refers to looking at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.
In most cases, these headaches can be easily managed
Cluster headaches are among the most painful types of headaches, with the pain being severe enough to potentially wake you up in the middle of the night (via the Mayo Clinic). These headaches don't have one specific cause, but there are some risk factors involved such as age, gender (men tend to have more cluster headaches than women), smoking, and alcohol use.
On the other hand, WebMD notes that sinus headaches can be directly traced to an inflammation of your sinuses, usually as a result of an allergic reaction or an infection. Migraines can also manifest in the front of the head, according to the U.K. National Health Service.
If you are suffering from a headache in the front of your head, there are a few things you can try to alleviate your symptoms, according to Healthline. Over-the-counter pain medications such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen are a good place to start — as long as you don't use them too often, because that could lead to medication overuse headaches.
Depending on the severity of your headache, you can also try things like a massage, a warm shower or bath, yoga, or meditation. Not only can these help offer some relief, but they can reduce your stress, which can go a long way to keeping future headaches at bay.
However, if your headaches become chronic, or the pain is severe, you should consult with your doctor to help manage the symptoms and prevent your headaches from recurring.