Headaches in the back of the head may be caused by a variety of ailments and injuries. Chronic headaches in the back of the head--also known as occipital headaches--are often variants of tension headaches or migraines. New-onset occipital...
Exercise headaches develop after vigorous physical activity. According to MayoClinic.com, these headaches are usually benign, and are categorized as primary exercise headaches. Headaches due to medical problems are called secondary headaches; in...
Meningitis can be caused by a virus, fungus or bacteria. The most frequent meningitis symptoms include nausea, headache, high fever, seizures, rash, mental confusion, sensitivity to light, dizzy spells and stiff neck, reports the Mayo Clinic....
Exercise can cause certain hemorrhages. The severity and dangers associated with the hemorrhage depends on the type of hemorrhage you are experiencing. Strenuous exercise places significant strain on your body that, though uncommon, can result in...
A brain bleed is a medical emergency that occurs when you have head trauma or suffer a stroke. Brain bleeds can occur within your brain (intracranial hemorrhage) or on the outer portions of your brain (subarachnoid hemorrhage). Sometimes the blood...
A brain aneurysm, which the National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines as a "weakened area in the wall of a blood vessel," is a serious medical condition. When it ruptures, bleeding occurs in the brain, which can irritate the brain tissue. The...
The number one cause of death for children younger than 2 years old is head trauma, reports John Cowan, Jr., M.D., of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Harbin Clinic, in "Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Surgery." Shaken baby syndrome is due...
Head pressure, medically referred to as intracranial pressure, is pressure between the skull and the brain. Too much pressure in the head can restrict blood flow to the brain and press on structures in the brain. It is a serious medical condition...
Head trauma or spontaneous rupture of a ballooned artery or malformed blood vessel can cause bleeding in the brain, also known as a cerebral hemorrhage. The brain fits tightly into the intracranial space within the rigid skull, leaving little room...
A bleeding stroke, is uncontrolled bleeding from a burst blood vessel within or around the brain, according to the Stanford School of Medicine. A bleeding stroke is also called a hemorrhagic stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage or intracerebral...
Cerebral edema is the medical term for brain swelling. By definition, it is an increase in the amount of water in the brain, according to Dr. Jeffrey Frank in "Principles of Critical Care." It can cause part of the brain to shift, which leads to...
Water on the brain, also called hydrocephalus, is the result of a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) states that the excess CSF "puts pressure on the brain, pushing the brain up against the skull and...
Bleeding in the brain is a serious condition that can put a patient's life at risk. In areas of the brain where the bleeding does not occur, the brain tissue does not get enough oxygen. Without oxygen, brain cells die within three to four minutes,...
According to the American Heart Association, "a stroke is the disruption of the blood supply to, or within, the brain. When the blood supply is cut off, the brain does not receive the oxygen and nutrients it needs. The result is injury to the...
Defects in brain vessels, notably arteries, include hardening by atherosclerotic plaque, which narrows carotid arteries and can cause stroke; formation of berry aneurysms, which can rupture causing subarachnoid hemorrhage; deposition of amyloid in...
According to the American Stroke Association, the third leading cause of death is stroke. Stroke is a disease that involves the brain and the blood vessels bringing it oxygen. When blood vessels become weak or unable to move a normal amount of...
Normal pressure hydrocephalus is also called adult onset hydrocephalus. It's the abnormal buildup of fluid, cerebrospinal fluid or CSF, within the brain’s cavities--also called ventricles. According to the National Institute of...
Headache is a term used to describe pain in one or more areas of the head, upper face, or upper neck. Headaches can be chronic, cyclical, or acute, with varying qualities and intensities of pain. The two most common types of headaches, tension and...
Most people experience a headache and dizziness at some point in life. Sometimes a headache is accompanied by dizziness and at other times these symptoms occur individually. The causes of headaches and dizziness may be internal as in the case of...
The University of Washington states that cerebrospinal fluid, the fluid in the brain and spinal cord, has four major functions: transporting hormones, protecting the brain, removing waste and creating buoyancy. When too much cerebrospinal fluid...
A brain aneurysm is a blood-filled bulge in a blood vessel that occurs as a result of a weakening of the blood vessel wall. While most aneurysms do not cause any symptoms or problems, some can leak or rupture, causing blood to spill into the...
Headaches after a run should not happen. If you get a headache after exercising, your doctor needs to know what is happening so he can run different diagnostic tests and rule out different conditions. This is not the time to think, "It's just a...
The anatomy in the head and neck is complex. Between the collection of bones, joints and blood vessels, there are a number of reasons you might experience a popping sensation during exercise. Many conditions that lead to this clicking are not...
The International Headache Society's "Classification of Headache Disorders," defines an exertional headache as severe, sudden onset head pain that occurs during or immediately after vigorous physical exertion. The classification system...
There are several types of brain hemorrhages because there can be bleeding in different parts of the brain. Many of the symptoms for the various types are very similar. But with the use of tests such as a neurological exam, laboratory testing, CT...
Falls, vehicular and occupational accidents, and sports and recreational trauma commonly cause accidental head injuries in children and adults. The severity of head injuries varies according to the level of trauma sustained by the brain, skull and...
Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a condition in which the brain structures called ventricles are abnormally enlarged. Ventricles are filled with fluid known as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); CSF flows throughout the brain and spinal cord....
According to Washington University's Stroke Center, brain bleeding or hemorrhaging is a life threatening medical condition that can occur within or outside of the brain between the scalp and the layers covering the brain. The symptoms in these...
A stroke result from an interruption of blood supply to the brain--either a lack of blood flowing to the brain or abnormal bleeding in the brain or skull cavity. Diseased arteries, blood clots and ruptured vessels in the brain are the most common...
