Of pain and dreams and other things

[wiccanslyr]

So, I have a question for you. Can neck trauma (probably received while sleeping) cause head aches? More specifically a headache (or series of them, I can't be sure) that has last more than 2 weeks now

Comments

[brennakimi]

my bet is tension. or sinus infection, but you seem to be sure it's not that same kind. take a sudafed and see if that helps to rule out sinuses. the only thing you can do for tension is treat the symptoms and try to angst less. it doesn't really work.

[messy_hair_girl]

An achey neck can definately give you a headache. Happens to me a lot because I wrecked up my shoulder and neck in a car accident a long time ago. The thing that works best for me is to take a tennis ball and stand next to a wall. Put the ball between the part of you that hurts and the wall. Then you can lean into it and move around -- you get as much or as little pressure as you want. It's the best massage you'll ever get. And when the muscle stress goes, so does my headache.

Just keep your hair out of the way.

[moyaselene]

Yep. Sinus pain can cause neck pain, neck pain can cause frontal headaches. The occipital nerves run from the base of your neck behind your ears, and around to the front. If you inflame either side of those nerves, you can piss off the other side.

[emerybored]

What you have is called greater occipital neuralgia. Basically, the tension in your neck near the base of your skull triggers nerves that run to the top and front of your head. It will cause a low- to mid-level constant headache. I know. I've lived with this for most of my adult life. Over-the-counter pain meds (particularly NSAIDS like advil or aleve), will help a lot. If those don't work, you should see a doctor - a family medicine guy should be all you need - and they will likely either give you a muscle relaxant, or potentially a steroid injection at the base of your skull to aleviate the swelling.

As a cheap costume, I always opt for all black, a pack of those tiny cereal boxes, each with some kind of damage and fake blood, and glue to tack them to your shirt (it can be cheap if you get the tshirt from a craft store). That way you are a "cereal killer." The other cheap costume is pirate - a cheapo tshirt from a craft store, with the cuffs cut off and frayed, pants/cropped pants, sandals, cheap eye patch, etc.

[eaglecry]

Ok, this is just my 2 cents....... I get those headaches all the time if I sleep wrong with my neck. IE crappy pillows. I would get comfy and fall asleep and spend all night long with my head at an odd angle and wake up in pain for pretty much the whole day.

I now have better pillows and it rarely ever happens that I try to twist my neck into a pretzel shape anymore.