According to FreeMD, headache is experiencing discomfort or pain beneath the scalp, forehead or at the back of the eyes. Medically referred to as Cephalalgia, you might suffer from headache that proves absolutely harmless or something which might indicate something very serious in nature. When the underlying reasons prove dangerous, it becomes important to seek treatment immediately by doctors, or else it can lead to an onslaught of side effects. It thus becomes essential to understand the causes of sudden severe headaches.
Headache Due to Exertion
Due to strenuous physical exercises or working, you can experience a sudden and severe headache. This is referred to as transient cranial pain. Such pain can persist for a few minutes and will automatically subside within minutes, usually by just relaxing. If this occurs repeatedly, suspend your exercise regime for a few weeks. If this is possibly work related, you probably need to slow down while at work.
Cluster Headache
As stated in the MedlinePlus article, "Cluster Headache,' the sudden severe headache results because of a sudden release of serotonin or histamine in the blood stream. The sudden release of histamine can occur due to various reasons like alcohol intake, smoking, air travel, prolonged exposure to sunlight and hot weather for instance. This headache occurs normally in one of the sides, behind the head or around the eye region. It is not uncommon for this condition to occur recurrently for a year or so.
Sub Arachnoids Hemorrhage (SAH)
SAH can cause sudden bouts of severe headaches. As per the article, "A sudden and severe case of headache," in the Ferne.org site, this condition also called a thunderclap headache, often occurs after bouts of mild headaches prior to the onset of severe pain. In such cases, the headache can persist, along with severe stiffness experienced in the neck region. A CT scan can diagnosis this type of headache.
Sexual Headache
According WrongDiagnosis, severe and sudden orgasmic/sexual headache can occur just before an orgasm. You might experience sexual headache while performing any type of sexual activity, which leads to increased blood pressure within the body and hence the headache. This type of headache is of vascular type and may rupture cerebral blood vessel and hence requires immediate intervention of a doctor. However, don't confuse sexual headache with headaches that may result due to usage of birth pills, anemia and glaucoma, because the symptoms often prove very similar.
Meningitis / Encephalitis
Lungs or other organs can become infected by the droplet infection spread through a tick bite, which results in meningitis or encephalitis. In this condition, a headache becomes severe and starts usually from behind the head which increases with the neck bending. Other symptoms of this type of headache include fever, nausea or vomiting, along with back and leg pains as well as unconsciousness.
Other Causes
Various other etiological conditions like glaucoma, strokes, brain tumor, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, dengue fever, typhoid fever, malarial fever, tick fever and migraine can also result in sudden and severe headaches. Prior head injuries can also lead to such sudden head pains.
