When headaches and eye pain occur simultaneously, a person cannot always independently determine the cause and does not know which doctor to contact. Such a complex symptom can really cause difficulties, since it can occur both due to eye diseases and neuralgic disorders .
In any case, unpleasant sensations in the temples and eyes require examination by specialists, especially if they regularly make themselves felt.
Symptoms of pain in the eyes and temples
It is worth noting! Depending on the cause of the development of pain in the eyes and temples, this phenomenon may be accompanied by the following additional symptoms:
- a feeling of heaviness in the head generally or only in the temples;
- insomnia;
- constant fatigue, weakness, tiredness and apathy;
- dizziness;
- changes in blood pressure.
The symptom itself can have a different character and be pulsating, pressing or acute.
Preventive measures
When a tooth hurts and radiates to the temple, a doctor will help. In order to prevent such a situation, you need to follow simple rules.
- Practice good oral hygiene. Brush chewing organs twice a day.
- Choose the right brush and toothpaste, rinse your mouth after eating, and use floss.
- Regularly visit the dentist for preventive examinations. Typically, they are recommended twice every 12 months. Come to the doctor even when nothing bothers you.
- If pain occurs, you should immediately consult a doctor. There is no need to wait for complications to appear.
Such simple care gives excellent results, improves the quality of life, and prevents dangerous diseases. Regular sanitation is the key to dental health. If you have persistent migraines that do not go away with therapy, you need to see a dentist for a diagnosis.
Causes
Such signs always refer to the head, and they only radiate to the eyes, although in case of infectious lesions (this is one of the causes of the symptom), pain in the eyes and temples has the same origin.
The following are the main reasons for this violation:
- Migraine . Pathology of a neurological nature, the origin of which cannot always be determined. A distinctive feature of the symptom is spontaneous attacks, sometimes occurring for no apparent reason. The pain is throbbing and can spread from the temples to one or both halves of the head. Treatment is prescribed after diagnosis and is carried out according to an individual scheme.
- Problems with intracranial or blood pressure . Aches in the eyes and temples are always accompanied by fatigue and apathy.
- Trigeminal neuralgia . It occurs as a result of inflammatory or infectious diseases and has a sharp pulsating character. In complex cases and with developing complications, treatment is prescribed in a hospital setting. The disorder cannot be treated with symptomatic medications: the underlying disease must be eliminated.
- Osteochondrosis. With this disease, the blood supply to the brain is disrupted, since the problem affects the cervical spine, reducing circulatory activity. Unpleasant sensations begin in the back of the head and over time radiate to the temples and move to the eye area.
- Glaucoma. The only disorder in which the main affected area is the eyes, and the aches spread to the temples from them. Since this disease can be accompanied by clouding of consciousness, nausea and weakness. In the first stages, in the absence of visual disturbances, it is confused with poisoning, which is also accompanied by pain in the eyes and head.
- Sarcoidosis. This pathology affects the lungs, but can affect many other body systems, including the organs of vision. Additional signs in addition to pain are redness of the eyes. Spasms occur from the nervous system, which leads to aching in the head.
- Temporal arteritis. Damage to the temporal arteries, most often occurring in old age due to structural changes in the vessels. In such cases, the pain is concentrated in the temporal region and may not always radiate to the eyes.
- Malignant or benign tumors in the eye orbit or in the brain . In the first case, everything is clear - destructive processes also cause painful sensations. If we talk about benign formations, they may not always manifest themselves in the form of pain, and the nature of the unpleasant sensations depends on their type. So, with neuromas, the pain is concentrated in the eye area, and with hemangiomas, the patient feels pain in the temples.
- Cluster violations . They most often do not have their own causes and are of a burning, sharp nature, which is sometimes difficult to associate with any external or internal factors. The main location is the temporal region on the left or right side. The pain goes only to the eye located on the same side.
- Pregnancy. During this period, aches in the temples are associated either with hormonal changes or (in later stages) with weight gain, which is not typical for slender women in their normal state and requires the expenditure of a large amount of the body's resources, hence the load on the circulatory system and blood supply disorders.
Important! Such pain can also occur in weather-dependent people when the weather changes, but specialists are not able to fully treat this condition and are ready to offer such patients only painkillers.
Pain in the temple area
Arthritis
18801 October 28
IMPORTANT!
The information in this section cannot be used for self-diagnosis and self-treatment.
In case of pain or other exacerbation of the disease, diagnostic tests should be prescribed only by the attending physician. To make a diagnosis and properly prescribe treatment, you should contact your doctor. Pain in the temple area: causes of occurrence, what diseases it occurs with, diagnosis and treatment methods.
Definition _
Pain in the temple area is one of the most common complaints that brings patients to the doctor.
In the bone structures of the skull and brain tissues, pain sensitivity is insignificant, so the main sources of pain are blood vessels, meninges and cranial nerves.
Types of pain in the temple area
According to the International Classification of Headaches 3 (2013), all headaches are divided into:
- for primary pain not associated with diseases of the brain and other structures of the head and neck;
- secondary pain associated with other diseases;
- painful cranial neuropathies, other facial and headaches.
Possible causes of pain in the temple area
Arterial hypertension
is one of the common causes of headaches in the back of the head and temples. When pressure increases, attacks of headaches occur, which may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and “spots” before the eyes.
Tension headache
– one of the common reasons for visiting a neurologist and therapist. Patients characterize it as squeezing, pressing.
Tension headaches interfere with quality of life and performance, despite the fact that they are considered benign and do not carry serious consequences.
Migraine
is the most common form of attack-like headache.
Migraine is characterized by localization of pain in the temporo-frontal-orbital region and a paroxysmal nature of the course.
If the pain is not paroxysmal, then it is not a migraine. Seizures can occur on one side of the head or on both sides, and can also change their location (right-left).
A headache attack can occur at any time of the day, more often during a night's sleep in the morning or after waking up. The pain is pulsating, bursting, with a gradual increase in intensity over several hours. Before the onset of an attack, a so-called aura is possible (harbingers of pain, they vary from person to person, but are often described as disturbances in vision, speech, or dizziness). The pain intensifies in bright light, from loud sounds and other irritants, including changes in head position. The attack can last up to several days.
Harris' periodic migraine neuralgia
- characterized by the sudden onset of pain in the eye area on one side and spreading to the temporal, frontal and zygomatic areas, and sometimes even to the neck.
Unlike migraines, there are no warning signs of pain.
The pain is burning, cutting, bursting, accompanied by redness of the eye and lacrimation on the painful side. Some patients experience a sensation of the eye “bulging out of its socket.” All these attacks are characterized by a certain seasonality or periodicity. The duration of the attack ranges from 6–8 weeks to 3 months.
Pain in the temple area may occur immediately after drinking cold water
or ice cream due to arterial spasm. In this case, the pain is aching, squeezing, sometimes throbbing.
Cold pain occurs in individuals with increased sensitivity to cold stimuli and high reactivity of the body.
“Sausage” headache
(in English-speaking authors -
hot dogs headache
) occurs when eating foods containing food additives such as sodium nitrate. During a chemical reaction in the body, nitrate is converted into nitrite, which has a vasomotor effect (controlling the process of contraction and relaxation of the muscular lining of the walls of blood vessels, and, consequently, the lumen of blood vessels), and sensitive people may feel pain in the frontotemporal region.
A similar effect sometimes occurs when eating Chinese dishes (“Chinese restaurant headache”), where monosodium glutamate is often used.
Giant cell arteritis
is the most common systemic vasculitis in the world, affecting large vessels. The favorite localization of this disease is the temporal artery. Most often, the pain is intense, accompanied by limited function of the corresponding temporomandibular joint, blurred vision with its gradual decrease, and a hardened artery in the temple area is detected.
Without treatment, it can lead to permanent blindness of the eye on the affected side.
With inflammatory diseases of the ear,
pain in the temporal and parotid region is possible, which is accompanied by fever, redness, swelling in the ear area, and purulent discharge from the ear.
Meningitis
develops when an infectious agent enters the membranes of the brain, followed by an inflammatory process.
The headache is sudden, sharp, diffuse, predominant in the frontotemporal areas, sometimes accompanied by vomiting.
Neuralgia of the auriculotemporal nerve
often occurs after an inflammatory process or traumatic lesion of the parotid gland. It is characterized by burning, throbbing pain in the area of the external auditory canal, temple, temporomandibular joint, radiating to the lower jaw. The pain is accompanied by increased salivation and redness of the skin over the affected area. Attacks are triggered by eating and smoking.
Neuralgia of the ear ganglion
manifests itself as attacks of burning pain in the temporal region lasting from several minutes to an hour. May be accompanied by ear congestion and increased salivation.
For altitude sickness
There is a change in arterial tone due to reduced oxygen pressure and changes in barometric pressure. Headache is accompanied by shortness of breath, palpitations, and blurred vision.
The severity of symptoms depends on the speed of ascent to altitude.
The pain is relieved by applying cold to the temples and drinking cool water.
Traumatic lesion of the temporal region
may be the cause of pain. This includes a wide group of pathologies: fracture of the temporal bone, dislocation of the temporomandibular joint, soft tissue contusion.
Subarachnoid hemorrhage
occurs for various reasons, for example, as a result of a rupture of a cerebral aneurysm, a person feels like a strong blow to the head, hot liquid pouring into the head, strong contraction, and then bursting. The pain may initially be localized in the corresponding part of the head - in the temporal region when an aneurysm of the internal carotid artery ruptures.
Damage to the temporomandibular joint
(both inflammatory - arthritis, and non-inflammatory - arthrosis, malocclusion) may be accompanied by pain in the parotid and temporal region. When moving the lower jaw, crunching and clicking may occur in the joint; the pain intensifies when chewing and during conversation.
Which doctors should I contact if I have pain in my temples?
If you experience intense and recurring pain in your temples, you should consult a specialist.
If pain persists after taking painkillers or other symptomatic treatment previously prescribed by your doctor (for example, to lower blood pressure), and there are no signs of injury, you should contact or. Depending on the accompanying symptoms, you may need to consult a neurologist, rheumatologist, otolaryngologist, or ophthalmologist. In case of previous injury, it is necessary to contact a traumatologist or to exclude severe injury.
Diagnostics and examinations for pain in the temples
The list of examinations is prescribed by the doctor depending on the indications. An approximate list of studies that may be prescribed:
- computed tomography of the head;
Features of pain localization
Most often, pain in the temples and eyes spreads symmetrically to both halves , but sometimes the pain syndrome affects only the left or right side of the head and the organ of vision on the corresponding side.
Pain on the left may indicate an impending stroke , but mostly this happens after it.
In such people, pain in the left temple, radiating to the eye, may continue for the rest of their lives.
The side of localization may depend on the side of the trigeminal nerve lesion, as well as on the location of the tumors.
If the tumor is strongly displaced from the center to the left or right side, then it is on this side that the pain will be felt more clearly.
Should I see a doctor?
Note! If such a symptom appeared for the first time, it was managed to stop with the help of an anesthetic and it does not appear again - there is no reason to worry.
But if pain attacks recur regularly and intensify, you need to visit a therapist.
He prescribes diagnostics , which usually includes urine and blood tests, MRI and CT, angiography of cerebral vessels, and then refers the patient to an ophthalmologist or neurologist (depending on what assumptions about the diagnosis arise).
Causes of migraine
75% of all patients with migraine reported having migraine in their immediate family. The hereditary factor plays an important role here. The likelihood that a child of one of the parents with migraines will also develop migraines is also 75%.
To date, a connection between migraine and the neuropeptide CGRP, which is involved in the development of a migraine attack, has been discovered. During a migraine, the patient's level of only this protein increases, and after artificial administration of CGRP, the subjects began to experience a headache attack.
The reason why the level of this neuropeptide increases is still unknown.
What are the ways to relieve pain?
For pain in the temples and head, professional (often complex) treatment is required, which can be prescribed by a therapist or a highly specialized specialist .
But on the part of the patient himself, symptomatic therapy is allowed, and first of all, this is taking painkillers , from which you can choose the following:
- aspirin;
- ibuprofen;
- paracetamol;
- triptan;
- spasmalgon.
If the patient is aware of problems with blood pressure or this is revealed during the examination, pressure stabilizers (enam, renitec, captopril) can be additionally used .
Need to know! Sometimes the necessary medications are not at hand - in such cases, the person himself is able to provide emergency assistance to himself, eliminating the pain or reducing its intensity.
If possible, apply a few drops of mint or eucalyptus essential oil or a warming agent (for example, finalgone) to the temples, rubbing such products with your fingers for several minutes.
At home, you can relieve pain by applying a cold compress made from a damp cloth to your forehead.
Additionally, you can drop a few drops of mint or rosemary oil or tea tree oil on it.
In the latter case, the compress should be additionally wrapped in cellophane, since tea tree extract can cause a chemical burn to the skin.
also drink black or green tea, adding a spoonful of honey , and also eat a handful of walnuts , adding a little honey and a piece of grated lemon with zest.
Stay up to date! The safest and most effective massage is that you can perform it yourself in several ways:
- Mentally drawing a line on your head from ear to ear, you need to determine its center. You need to press on this point for about two minutes with your index finger until pain appears in this place.
- After taking off your shoes and socks, you need to find your left and right feet and use your thumbs to alternately massage both feet for two minutes (during this time you need to make one hundred presses). This is a method of Chinese medicine, and despite the unobvious connection with headaches, this method helps many.
- Using the index fingers of both hands, you need to feel the small depressions on the outer corners of the eye (this is the area between the border of the orbital bone and the eyeball). To reduce pain, it is enough to perform several simultaneous presses on the left and right sides.
- There is a point above the nose, strictly in the middle between the eyes at the level of the eyebrows. You need to press on it with your index finger 20-30 times - and the pain will begin to subside.
Why does my cheekbone hurt?
Traumatic injuries
The most common injury to the zygomatic region is bruise.
Occurs in fights, less often when falling or hitting a hard surface (for example, a door frame). The pain is moderate and subsides quickly. Local swelling and hyperemia are observed, abrasions are possible. Opening the mouth is not difficult, speech is not changed. All symptoms disappear within a few days or 1-2 weeks. When the zygomatic bone is fractured, the pain is very sharp and intense. Bruising is detected, swelling quickly spreads to the adjacent parts of the face. There is pain when trying to open the mouth, numbness of part of the cheek, wing of the nose and upper lip, and sometimes diplopia. If the integrity of the maxillary sinus is violated, nosebleeds develop and subcutaneous emphysema is possible. When fragments are displaced, a step is felt in the cheekbone area.
The zygomatic bone participates in the formation of the orbital wall. If the bone wall of the orbit is damaged, along with the symptoms listed above, limited mobility of the eyeball, visual impairment, subcutaneous emphysema, exophthalmos or endophthalmos are detected. Orbital injuries can also be accompanied by double vision, strabismus, and in severe cases, blindness.
Osteomyelitis
Severe tugging, throbbing pain in the cheekbone may be a consequence of post-traumatic osteomyelitis. The disease develops after an open fracture, surgery on the zygomatic bone and nearby tissues. The wound becomes swollen, its edges turn red. Suppuration, intoxication, and general hyperthermia are observed. After opening the abscess, pain and inflammation subside, and a fistula tract forms in the wound area.
Neuralgia
Burning, shooting pain in the cheekbone, reminiscent of an electrical discharge, is characteristic of damage to the second branch of the trigeminal nerve. Pain sensations spread from the side of the face to the center, affecting the upper part of the cheek, upper jaw, upper lip, and nasal mucosa. Attacks of neuralgia last up to 2 minutes and are repeated several times, causing patients to freeze in place.
In patients with ganglionitis of the pterygopalatine ganglion, intense prosopalgia predominates in the area of the cheekbone, eye, hard palate and base of the nose, but the symptom is never clearly localized, since a large number of nerve branches causes the spread of pain to adjacent parts of the face, gums, teeth, and sometimes the back of the head, neck , temple and ear. A distinctive feature of the pathology is pronounced autonomic symptoms: lacrimation, hypersalivation, hyperemia and swelling of half the face.
Sometimes the cause of radiating pain in the cheekbone is ganglionitis of the geniculate ganglion, although for this variant of ganglioneuritis pain in the ear with irradiation to the back of the head, face and neck is more typical. Painful sensations are paroxysmal in nature, and in some patients they are combined with neuritis of the facial nerve.
Cheekbone pain
Muscle damage
In patients with bruxism, bilateral aching pain in the cheekbones is caused by overstrain of the masticatory muscles during repeated nightly episodes of teeth grinding. Drowsiness, headache, toothache, and soreness in the jaw area are possible. Chips, cracks, hyperesthesia and pathological abrasion of teeth are often observed. With myofascial syndrome, pain increases gradually and is a consequence of constant muscle tension when clenching the jaw against the background of overload, stressful situations, and neurotic disorders.
Dental pathologies
Irradiation into the cheekbone is observed when the upper premolars and molars are affected on the corresponding side. In some cases, the pain in the cheekbone is so pronounced that it prevails over the pain in the teeth. The symptom can be observed after tooth extraction, with alveolitis, pulpitis, periodontitis. With deep caries, it does not occur spontaneously and is associated with food entering the carious cavity.
Otolaryngological diseases
The maxillary sinus is located in the body of the maxillary bone. Its wall borders the zygomatic bone, which causes pain to spread to the cheekbone when this sinus is affected. The symptom appears in the following diseases:
- Acute sinusitis.
There are bursting pains in the projection of the sinus, cheekbone, root of the nose and forehead, which intensify when palpated. Intoxication syndrome, fever, and nasal congestion are detected. - Aerosinusitis.
A similar localization of pain is observed with aerosinusitis (if the maxillary sinus is affected), but hyperthermia and intoxication occur only with secondary infection. - Acute pansinusitis.
A clear clinical picture is characteristic. Chills, febrile temperature, and severe intoxication occur. The general condition is serious. Pain from the cheek and cheekbone spreads to the eyebrows, orbits, crown and back of the head, sometimes extends to the lower jaw, is combined with a constant diffuse headache, and with a prolonged course is supplemented by progressive neurological disorders (insomnia, weakness, paresthesia).
In addition, acute bursting pain in the cheekbone is typical of one of the orbital complications of sinusitis - orbital osteoperiostitis. The spread of the inflammatory process to the lower outer wall of the orbit causes the involvement of the zygomatic bone. Along with the symptoms of sinusitis, significant swelling of the periorbital tissue, exophthalmos, displacement and limitation of eye mobility are detected.
Other reasons
Headaches with possible irradiation to the cheekbone are observed in diseases with a completely unclear etiology - cluster headaches and paroxysmal hemicrania. Sometimes the epicenter of pain in the cheekbone with spread to other areas is noted with atypical facial pain. Pain syndrome of psychogenic origin against the background of stress or overwork is formed in emotionally unstable, suspicious people. In some cases, the symptom is found in patients with hypochondria and occurs in delusional and hallucinatory disorders.
