Re: Sharp, Sudden Pains in head

Posted By CCF neuro MD MM on January 27, 1999 at 18:06:00:

In Reply to: Sharp, Sudden Pains in head posted by Joel on January 27, 1999 at 13:31:06:






I am a 28 year old male in good health, other than being a little overweight.  
I have been having very sharp and sudden pains in the same general location of my head from
time to time.  The location is the left, rear/side of my head.  The pain can be so great, that it
will cause me to visibly wince.  Often, that area will then be sore for some time afterwards.
I also feel pressure on the left side of my head afterwards, even into my ear and jaw area.  
This has been happeing for a little while now.  I have noticed that when this happens, I am
often tired, but not always.  The most recent occurance was yesterday.
I work in front of a computer 5 to 6 days a week.  I don't know if eye strain or fatigue could cause
such a thing or not, but thought it was worth mentioning.
I also have been experiencing a numbness and tingling and even somtimes burning sensation in
my left thigh.  I do not know if this is related to my head pains or not.  But naturally, this
concerns me as well.



  
I doubt if your two problems are related and really do not have enough
information to help with the thigh problem.
The problem with sharp severe pains in the head sounds like a neuralgic
pain, this type of pain is caused when a nerve supplying an area is
directly irritated giving a brief intense sensation of pain in the area
served by the nerve.
The most commonly recognized variant is trigeminal neuralgia in which
the pain is located in the facial area.
Neuralgia can also affect other nerve in the head / scalp area and this
sounds as if it is the case with you.
This may be due to irritation of the nerves which exit from high in the
cervical spine to supply sensation to the scalp.
If this continues you will need to see a neurologist to determine the
exact nerve territories involved and to take corrective action which
may involve correction of problems with prolonged posture while sitting
at your computer.
Any input would be appreciated.  Thank you!

[christa1981]

A related discussion, head pain was started.

[jcolflesh]

A related discussion, Sudden, Sharp Head Pains was started.