What Is The Cure For Headache On Right Side After A Hit?

Posted on Fri, 6 Dec 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 6 Dec 2013 Answered on

Mon, 30 Dec 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : My mother aged 48 met with an accident over 2 years back in which she hit the right side of back of her head on road. there was no bleeding but the area swelled to enormous extent and she started vomiting. After lot of medicine and checkups the swelling subsided and things went normal. MRIs, XRay, CT Scan etc did not reveal any issue of blood clot etc. However, lately she complains of headache on right side (area where she was hurt) which spreads to right side of the face. She gets that pain 9 to 10 times everyday and sometimes it is so acute that she cant control crying. Can this be a cause to worry? I have an appointment with doctor XXXXXXX XXXXXXX Singhal tomorrow at Fortis bannerghatta Road, Bangalore. Is he the right person to contact?

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Kumar (29 hours later)

Brief Answer: Thank you for posting your query. Detailed Answer: Hello Mr XXXXXXX Thank you for posting your query regarding your mother. Your mother's symptoms are not of any serious concern and could be well managed with medications. Also, I do not think the current symptoms are related to the previous head injury, even though her current symptoms are in the same location. Her symptoms could be due to trigeminal neuralgia or migraines. The diagnosis can be confirmed with examination of the patient. Yes, you need to consult a Neurologist. I hope my reply has helped you. I would be pleased to answer, if you have any follow up queries or if you require any further information. Best wishes, Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, For DIRECT QUERY to me: http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar My blog: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.com/

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Sudhir Kumar (46 hours later)

Thanks a lot for your reply. I would like to understand if its common in trigeminal neuralgia or migraines to have pain on only one side of head. In case of my mother the pain starts on right side of her head but spreads to right side of her face and even ear. She can not make out the point of origin of the pain when that happens. Also, I met Dr XXXXXXX and he also said that symptoms do not look to be of concern. He said these are probably 2 things playing together. He said its something called "cluster headache" and little spondilitis as well that is causing this. What is cluster headache?

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Kumar (14 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Thank you for getting back. Detailed Answer: Hi Mr XXXXXXX Thank you for providing more information. Yes, both migraine and trigeminal neuralgia can produce symptoms mainly on one side of head and face. Cluster headache is a bit similar to migraine, but has additional symptoms such as redness of eyes, running nose, etc. It comes in "clusters" (present everyday for few days at a stretch) and there is a period of few days when there are no symptoms. Also, cluster headache is more common in men. I hope it helps. Best wishes, Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (Neurology)

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Sudhir Kumar (2 minutes later)

Thank you Doc. It really helped.

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Kumar (1 minute later)

Brief Answer: Thank you Detailed Answer: I would be pleased to be of help in the future too! Best wishes, Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (Neurology)

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar