Table of contents:
- The difference between brain tumor headaches and ordinary headaches
- Headaches due to tumors are often considered normal headaches
- Other symptoms that follow headaches in people with brain tumors
- Can headaches due to brain tumors be cured?
Headaches caused by brain tumors and tension-type headaches are often mistaken for the same headache. In fact, although the feelings caused by these two headaches are almost similar at first, of course the two are different. If a brain tumor headache is defined as a normal headache and is not treated promptly, your health condition may become worse. Then how to distinguish the two types of headaches? Check out my explanation below.
The difference between brain tumor headaches and ordinary headaches
When you have a headache, you should be suspicious. Especially if the headache does not go away even though you have been given medication. The reason is, the headache may be a headache due to a brain tumor.
This headache is indeed a bit like a tension-type headache. The feeling that is caused is like ache when the head is just hit by a hard object. The difference between the two is that tension headaches are still relatively mild and do not change to become more severe.
Meanwhile, headaches due to brain tumors are a little different. Initially, your head may feel only mild pain. However, these headaches are of a nature chronic progressive. This means that the headaches you feel from a brain tumor will get worse over time.
If the tension-type headache stops or goes away after you take the drug, the headache due to a brain tumor will not go away completely and will continue to appear with an increasingly severe intensity. Even if you have used medicine to relieve it.
Each time it appeared, the pain would last longer and get heavier. Moreover, in the morning when you wake up, it can even make you wake up during the night. The intensity of this headache will also increase.
Headaches due to tumors are often considered normal headaches
Basically, headaches due to brain tumors are the first symptoms that appear when there is a tumor on the head. This pain must be felt, especially if the size of the tumor has enlarged and is pressing on brain tissue. In fact, this pain is a sign that the tumor is getting worse.
As I said earlier, headaches due to brain tumors will indeed hurt even more in the morning. However, this pain can also get worse when you push, cough and sneeze.
However, it seems that this headache is often considered a normal headache. So, this headache is only treated with the use of drugs.
In fact, the drugs used to treat common headaches can indeed be used to relieve headaches due to brain tumors. But the headache will return until the tumor is removed.
Therefore, try to think of the worst possibility first if after taking medicine, the headache doesn't go away. That way, you will have your condition checked by a doctor to determine whether you have a serious health condition, or not.
This is certainly better than knowing your health problem too late so that it can't be treated anymore.
Other symptoms that follow headaches in people with brain tumors
Headaches caused by brain tumors are also accompanied by various other symptoms. These symptoms can vary from person to person. Usually, this depends on where the tumor grows.
For example, if a tumor appears on the forebrain, there may be paralysis on the other side. This means that if the tumor appears in the right front of the brain, the potential for paralysis is the left side of the body and vice versa.
Another symptom that may arise is a speech disorder. Usually, this occurs in people whose tumors appear on the left front of the brain. Thus, apart from experiencing weakness in the right limb, the patient will have difficulty communicating.
Meanwhile, if the tumor appears in the middle of the brain, another symptom that may follow is narrowing of the vision. This causes the eyes to see less things as the field of view becomes narrower. Then, if the tumor is on the surface of the brain, the symptom that may follow is seizures.
Can headaches due to brain tumors be cured?
At the beginning of its appearance, tumor headaches may only last a short time. However, the larger the size of the tumor in the brain, the more headache it will make for you. In fact, at an already severe level, the pain can last for 24 hours in your head.
Headaches due to brain tumors can actually be treated, but only temporarily. These headaches will only completely disappear if the tumor can be removed from the head. Not only headaches, tumors that over time press on the brain tissue can also cause swelling around it. However, this headache and swelling can be relieved by using drugs.
To temporarily relieve tumor headaches, you can use drugs used to treat tension headaches, such as ibuprofen and paracetamol. Meanwhile, to relieve swelling, you can use steroid drugs. One of the drugs that you can use is dexamethason.
However, you need to know that the soothing effects provided by drugs are only temporary. Not long after that, the pain and swelling will come back as if it had never been treated.
Therefore, if you already feel a headache that is getting sicker over time and continues to persist even after being treated, it is better to consult a doctor immediately. You also need to know that the only way to get rid of headaches due to brain tumors is to remove the tumor which currently can be done by a variety of methods. As long as the tumor is still in your head, your head will also continue to feel pain.
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