Headache behind eyes can cause severe distress. It can affect your ability to concentrate on a job adversely. The pain you experience behind your eyes can prevent you from working properly. So, it can affect your personal as professional chores. In normal cases, headaches occur in any region of your head. It can range from your forehead, temples, base of the neck or behind your eyes. Different causes trigger a specific type of headaches. Due to different conditions, you can experience pain behind one or both of your eyes. In addition to suffering from severe pain, the type of headache can also cause eye discomfort. Most people also complain about light sensitivity due to the headache felt behind the eyes.

In day-to-day life, you can suffer from the headache of any type. It is a common occurrence, which does not require medical assistance. You can handle the headache at home. But, when the headache troubles you and prevents you from functioning properly, you need doctorâ€™s assistance. With accurate diagnosis, you can understand the right method to follow. Administering it can provide effective results. So, you can function properly without any hassles.

Headache Behind Eyes Reasons

Not every headache can trigger pain around your eye. Only certain types of headaches can affect the region behind your eyes. So, the different types of pain leading to headache behind eyes are:

Tension Headaches

People busy in their professional and personal life often complain about tension headaches. It is a common form of headache, which affects all people. But, women are more prone to the problem compared to men. It mostly affects people who have heightened sensitivity to pain. People suffering from the headache can feel tight band squeezing their head. The headache trigger mild to moderate pain in your head. The headaches are often episodic. So, it can occur at least one to two times per month. In some people, the headache can escalate to the chronic form. So, it occurs once every fifteen days for than three months.

Signs Associated With Tension Headaches

People in stressful jobs can get tension headaches. It is one of the main triggers that can also cause other signs in your body:

Pressure around your forehead
Tightening feeling around your eyes
Pain behind the eyes
Scalp tenderness
Dull head pain
Forehead pain
Pain in your neck

Cluster Headache

It is a series of headaches that occurs during a relatively short period of time. But, you can suffer from extremely painful headaches due to the problem. You can experience the agonizing pain for every day for weeks or even months at a time. The headaches are mostly seasonal in nature. So, you get them at the same time every year. Most people confuse the headaches for allergies due to the yearly occurrence during the same season.

Signs Associated With Cluster Headaches

As the name suggests, you can experience a series of three to four headaches within a short duration of time. The painful headaches, which are not common like tension headaches can make you highly uncomfortable. The type of headache can last from fifteen minutes to over an hour. So, you can expect different signs associated with cluster headache like:

Piercing or searing headache behind eyes
Swollen eyes
Red eyes
Excessive tearing

Migraine

It is the type of headache that can trigger agonizing pain. The migraines can affect your everyday life as the pain can become unbearable. It is worse than normal headaches. Recurrent headaches affect your quality of life. It can trigger severe pain that can last for hours to several days at a time. The pulsating headache can affect one half of the head.

Signs Associated With Migraine

The pain due to migraine headaches can last from 48 hours to 72 hours. Apart from the debilitating pain, you can also experience other signs like:

The pressure behind your eyes
Sensitivity to light
Headache behind eyes
Eye pain
Nausea
Dizziness
Feeling weak
Vomiting
Mood changes
Impaired Vision

Eyestrain

When you stare at your television or computer for a long time, it can lead to eyestrain. Some people suffer from vision issues that can make them strain to look at the screen. It leads to overstimulation of your brain. Therefore, the overstimulation can lead to your brain as well as the eye to compensate for the vision problem. It can result in a headache. Therefore, uncorrected vision issues can trigger headache behind eyes.

Potential Triggers Leading To Headache Behind Eyes

Head behind eyes strike you suddenly. But, the chances of getting a headache is more when you get exposed to some triggers. The triggers that can lead to agonizing pain are:

Alcohol Use

Some people who consume alcohol can get pain behind their eyes. It is due to the production of congeners. Congeners are the byproduct of dark alcohol, which can cause headaches. So, when you drink alcoholic products like whiskey, brandy, and wine, you become susceptible to headache.

But, people who drink other alcoholic beverages can also experience. It is due to the fact that alcohol contains histamine. By drinking alcohol, you also spur your immune system to make more histamine. So, it leads to inflammation throughout your body. Ethanol present in alcohol can get converted into a chemical that can trigger headaches.

Hunger

You become hangry (angry when you feel hungry). But, at times, you can also feel a headache due to not consuming food. Do you know why? It is due to the low sugar levels in your blood and muscle tension. When you skip food, you feel hungry, which can cause your muscles to tighten. So, it can trigger a tension headache. You can feel a headache behind eyes leading to discomfort and distress.

You can also suffer from low sugar levels due to not eating food. Your body releases hormones to counteract the effects of low glucose levels. So, it triggers a headache. Therefore, skipping meals can result in irritation and pain.

Strong Smells

Have you observed that some people complain about headaches when they get exposed to strong smells like perfume? Strong smelling products like perfumes can lead to swelling and dilation of blood vessels in your body. So, it can stimulate your nerves present in the brain. So, the stimulation of the nerve system associated with head pain can lead to headaches.

Loud Noises

Loud noises can always disturb you. But, you can also develop a headache behind eyes due to exposure to loud noise. When you hear loud noises, it increases your temporal pulse amplitude. So, it can result in widening or distention of the superficial blood vessels present in your face. It can lead to headaches.

People who suffer from migraine can get pain when exposed to loud noises. It is due to the widening of blood vessels around the skull. So, it activated trigeminal sensory nerve fibers. The sensory nerve fiber can evoke CGRP, a type of protein. CGRP has the power to worsen your brain inflammation. So, it can result in pain.

Bright Lights

Light sensitivity is one of the common signs of a headache behind eyes. Due to the light insensitivity, you have an intolerance to bright light. So, the sources of bright lights like sunlight, incandescent, and fluorescent light can lead to discomfort. It causes you to close or squint your eyes. You feel like having a bad hangover when exposed to bright lights.

Fatigue

You mostly feel drained out of your energy during highly stressful conditions. When you experience stress, it can cause repressed emotions. Bottled emotions like fatigue can increase your muscle tension. So, it causes the blood vessels to widen or dilate. It can lead to headache behind eyes.

Hormonal Changes

Women can suffer from hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy or menopause. So, women can experience a headache due to the changes in hormones in the body. Some people may also experience pain while taking oral contraceptives. People who undergo hormone replacement therapies can also suffer from the pain behind the eyes.

Lack Of Sleep

A good nightâ€™s sleep can offer your body a complete relaxation. It can keep you healthy and happy. People who suffer from headaches need a good nightâ€™s sleep. Irregular sleep pattern or insufficient sleep can trigger headaches. You can feel pain behind your eyes due to sleep problems. Therefore, it is essential to sleep properly.

Emotional Stress

Emotional stress is one of the common trigger associated with causing headaches. It is worse in people already suffering from migraines or other types of headaches. It causes people to get affected by a highly stressful event in their life. When you experience mentally disturbing events, it triggers your brain to release a chemical to combat the situation. The chemicals can cause changes in your blood vessels. So, you can experience headaches.

Infection

Sudden headache can occur due to extracranial infection of your head. So, when you suffer from infection in the following organs, you can experience pain behind the eyes:

Ear
Eye
Sinus

So, the above-mentioned infection can trigger headache that can also cause pain behind your eyes.

Diagnosing Headache Behind Eyes

Headaches can make you feel uncomfortable. The pain and agony associated with the headache can stop you from performing normal activities. It is particularly true for headache behind eyes. You cannot concentrate on a task due to the pain you feel in your eyes. The pattern of pain needs a professional diagnosis. It can eliminate the possibility of more severe conditions with fatal complications. The duration and frequency of the attacks are important factors to detect the actual problem. To pinpoint the exact reason for your headache, the doctor uses the following diagnostic techniques:

Neurological Examination

The examination provides your doctor with information about the neurological disorder signs. The physical symptoms can help your doctor detect any problem with your brain. So, the series of procedures can assess the function of your brain, test your senses, nerves as well as reflexes. It can detect any underlying serious problem leading to the piercing pain in the head.

Imaging Tests

The headaches that affect your daily life can indicate some serious problem. So, when your neurological examination provides abnormal results, then your doctor recommends imaging tests. The sophisticated imaging tests can rule out other serious cases. So, it can eliminate the presence of an aneurysm or a tumor. The common imaging tests used by the doctor include:

MRI

Magnetic Resonance Imaging uses a powerful magnetic field along with radio waves for producing images. So, it produces a detailed image of the brain as well as its surrounding blood vessels. It can help detect the problems with the brain.

CT Scan

The imaging test uses a series of cross-sectional x-ray images of your brain. So, it helps detect any issues with the structure of the brain.

Home Remedies For Getting Relief From Headache Behind Eyes

Remember most of the headaches triggering pain behind your eyes do not have a complete cure. You can only manage the symptoms and reduce the severity of cluster headaches or migraines. So, you can follow some of the options provided below to get relief from the severe pain:

Exercise Daily

Include physical exercise in your routine daily. It will improve blood circulation and reduce the possibility of pain. Exercise can flush out the toxins from your body and keep you healthy.

Avoid Processed Food

Processed foods contain a high amount of salt, trans fat, and preservatives. So, it can adversely affect your immune system. It results in the worsening of the existing headaches. Therefore, avoid such food items can manage the condition better.

Limit Alcohol Use

People consuming alcohol can suffer from adverse effects on the body. Alcohol has byproduct that can trigger headaches. So, you need to avoid or limit using alcohol to prevent getting headaches.

Stop Using Tobacco

Tobacco use can trigger headache episodes. Therefore, you need to stop using products containing tobacco like cigarettes. Quit smoking to manage the headache behind eyes.

Limit Caffeine Intake

Caffeine can narrow the blood vessels and provide you relief from headaches. But, excess use of caffeine can lead to rebound headaches. So, you can suffer from pain as the effect of having caffeine fades. Therefore, it is important to limit your caffeine intake to manage headaches.

The home remedies can manage the condition better. But, if you do not see any improvement in your condition, then see your doctor immediately. Other signs accompanied by a headache can indicate an underlying health problem. It can indicate some other health issue or vision problem that needs correction. So, the serious problem needs immediate attention.

Treatment Options Available For Headache Behind Eyes

You can never know when the headache will strike. So, you need to manage the condition any time it strikes to prevent the agony and distress associated with it. Your doctor can suggest the following medication to get relief from the excruciating pain.

Over-The-Counter Painkillers

You can take OTC painkillers to alleviate the headache behind eyes. But, make sure to use the medications sparingly. Excess or overuse of the painkillers can lead to rebound headaches. It occurs when your body gets accustomed to the pain medications. So, you can experience severe pain once the effect of painkillers wears off. The following medications can provide you relief:

Aspirin
Ibuprofen

Muscle Relaxants

When you suffer severe headaches, you need a strong dose of medication to get relief. Therefore, your doctor can suggest muscle relaxants. It stops the contractions of muscles and avoids pain. You can get relief from the piercing pain behind your eyes with the muscle relaxants.

Antidepressants

Unlike popular conception, antidepressants not only treat mental problems, but also different types of headaches. Antidepressants can stabilize the serotonin levels inside your brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that sends signals to the brain. The low levels of serotonin can lead to headaches. So, antidepressants can enhance the serotonin levels to prevent headache behind eyes.

Conclusion

Headaches behind eyes are not rare. It occurs commonly in people. The problem can affect your daily function. But, by managing the underlying headache type, you can find relief. Various common headache types can lead to an uncomfortable feeling. You can try some remedies at home first to manage the problem. When the problem starts affecting your vision, then it points to a serious issue. The serious underlying problem can accompany with abnormal symptoms. Therefore, consult a doctor to diagnose the problem precisely. Self-diagnosis is not good as you can harm your health with the wrong diagnosis. Therefore, take an appointment with the medical doctor to detect the exact problem. It will help you get effective treatment as soon as possible. Earlier management of the signs can reduce or prevent your headache episodes.

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Headache Behind Eyes: Causes, Picture, Symptoms, and Treatment