Dull Left Occipital headache ,Warm to the touch

Hey guys,

Ive had this dull pain in the back left part of my head and partially on top of my head, mostly back left part though. Its been there about a month
Ive been to a free clinic and everything came out fine, good blood pressure, no temperature, reflexes and vision, hearing, and everything else is fine.

Had blood work done because they though I might have an overactive thyroid....but that came back normal.

One weird thing is that the top left spot where it hurts a little is warm to the touch, just that spot. The DR thought that was weird too, said its where my hair swirls and might be the thinnest spot on my head and is warm cause its closest to the blood? But its a decent sized area, thats what worries me.

I have high anxiety and this is a scary issue, never had a dull pain in my head for this long, sometimes it hurts a little more than others. While some days I can barely tell its there at all, especially if im focused on something else.

Dr said my mind could be making it hurt, such as focusing on it to much and my mind makes it hurt cause I think about it to much? But I don't really think thats it, cause I can be focused on something and it can break my focus from some pain.

Anyone have any ideas?
Am I just crazy?

Thanks for the help and sorry for the extensive post!

-Chris

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

Thanks for writing in.
Occipital headaches can occur due to inflammation, injury or pressure on the occipital nerves and upper cervical nerve roots. It usually radiates to the eye and the occipital nerve is tender on palpation.
Occipital headache can occur as a result of tension headache and nerve compression in the cervical region. I would suggest you to undergo a complete clinical examination and discuss these possibilities with your doctor.
Hope this helps!

[Iatrogenic]

Is there a more frightening, useless medical website on the internet?  (Probably). The problem with anyone assuming that anxiety is the primary cause, is, for one thing, that once that is established, few physicians will actually prescribe medication for anxiety to see if the symptoms resolve.  Being told something is "all in your head" has, in fact, led people to suffer severe physical consequences.  If the doctors are going to cite anxiety, then DO something about it.

It was good that the physician who responded did not suggest the anxiety.  It was very good that an MD responded at all.  One gets the sense that there are millions upon millions of people who need care they are not receiving, no matter how hard they try to get it.

Volcodc, I hope your problem has been properly addressed since you last write in 2008.