The Causes and Symptoms of a Spinal Headache

There are some types of headaches that are very common. Tension headaches, for instance, are something that nearly everyone suffers from at one point or another in their lifetime. These sorts of headaches are easily treated, and generally little more than a nuisance. However, there are some types of headaches which are both quite a bit less common and much more serious. One such type is the spinal headache.

While a tension headache is usually little more than a feeling of pressure on the scalp combined with mild aches and pains, a spinal headache could easily be described as being the worst headache imaginable. The causes are also quite notably different from that of any other sort of headache, which truly sets this type apart in the field of headache treatment and prevention.

In order to understand this type of headaches, you must obviously look into the causes of a spinal headache. As the name implies, a spinal headache originates in the spinal column. They generally only occur shortly after a procedure in which a doctor pierces the covering that surrounds your spine.

The spine, you see, is protected in two ways. First, it has a coating that keeps it fairly safe. Inside the coating, though, is the spinal fluid, which is there in order to cushion the spine in case of any impacts or injuries you might sustain. Normally, the spinal fluid fills that coating, keeping the spine safe. However, when the coating is pierced, the fluid can leak out of the hole that is made.

This is a problem due to the connection between the spine and the brain. You see, as the spinal fluid leaks out, it lowers the pressure in the spinal column, which puts strain on the membrane that separates the spinal column from your skull. Obviously, this causes the nerves in the membrane to respond quite adversely to this treatment, and the result is the event that is known as a spinal headache. While this small amount of pressure shift may seem immaterial at first glance, the human body is remarkably sensitive in any cases in which the brain is involved. As such, it tends to sound the alarm quite loudly whenever the brain might be put in any sort of danger.

The basic symptom of spinal headache is, simply, extreme pain. Unlike many other more severe forms of headache, there are no real secondary symptoms to the pain itself, apart from the general suffering that one would expect from intense pain. It is difficult to really treat a spinal headache. Most pain killers are fairly ineffective against the sheer intensity of the pain that is involved in this case. However, a great deal of bed rest can help significantly. Also, drinking a lot of fluids will help your spinal fluid reproduce more quickly, thusly restoring the equilibrium of pressure. Finally, a doctor may be able to use some of your own blood to create what is called a blood patch, essentially allowing your blood to clot at the site of the hole and thusly stopping the leak.