Foreign media: why do we have headaches?

The American interesting Science website published on March 12 entitled "if the brain does not feel pain and the brain itself does not have a pain receptor, then why does a headache make people feel so painful?" It's easy to think that it must be the pain in your brain tissue itself. The brain can feel pain all over the body, but it actually has no pain receptor of its own. Headaches may be caused by a basic condition, but Charles Clark, a neurologist and headache expert at Vanderbilt Medical system in Tennessee, told the interesting Science website that where you feel pain is different from where it actually occurs. This is similar to lumbar disc herniation, which can cause sciatica (leg pain). Problems in other parts of the body, such as the jaw, shoulder and neck, can cause pain in the muscles and nerves around the brain. Tension headaches often occur when the muscles above the head or forehead ache.

The American interesting Science website published on March 12 entitled "if the brain doesn't feel pain, why do headaches make people feel pain?" The article is written by Donna Coffey. The excerpt of the article is as follows: the brain itself does not have pain receptors, so why do headaches make people feel so painful?

Headaches are extremely common and can be of many types, ranging from mild to feeble, from a few minutes to days. If you have a pain in your skull, it's easy to think that it must be your brain tissue itself. But this is unlikely.

Ironically, the brain can feel pain all over the body, but it actually has no pain receptor of its own. So why do headaches make people feel painful?

Headaches may result from some underlying condition, such as swollen sinuses, hypoglycemia or head injuries. But Charles Clark, a neurologist and headache expert at Vanderbilt Medical system in Tennessee, told interesting Science that in general, most headaches are caused by "involved pain," that is, where you feel pain is different from where it actually occurs. This is similar to lumbar disc herniation, which can cause sciatica (leg pain). For most headaches, problems somewhere else in the body, such as the jaw, shoulder and neck, can cause pain in the muscles and nerves around the brain, he said.

Take tension headaches as an example. According to the World Health Organization, this is the most common type of recurrent headache. Tension headaches often occur when the muscles above the head or forehead ache, Clark said. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the pain is caused by muscle tension in the face, neck and scalp and may be related to stress. But headaches and tightening of head muscles may be caused indirectly by another stress response, such as tight shoulders or tight jaws, Clark said.

According to NIH, pain-sensing nerves in the muscles and blood vessels around the head, neck and face can be triggered by different processes, such as vasodilation, stress or muscle tension. Once activated, these nerves send messages to the brain, but it feels as if the pain comes from deep in the brain tissue.

Migraines are another type of headache, although technically, headaches are only one of the symptoms of neurological disorders. Migraines can be felt in different ways and in different parts: deep pain, superficial pain; back, left or right side of the head; or behind the eyes. What distinguishes migraine from other headaches is its intensity, Clark says.

The pain of migraines is more severe than other headaches and may last longer. The condition is often inherited and can cause other symptoms, such as nausea. The underlying causes of migraines are not entirely clear, but one theory suggests that migraines are associated with the trigeminal nerve (the sensory nerves of the head and face) and the dura mater (the protective layer of the brain with dilated and contracted blood vessels).

One possible explanation for migraines is that electrical activity in the brain stimulates the trigeminal channel, triggering an inflammatory response. Inflammation spreads through dural vessels, and trigeminal nerve fibers transmit signals back to the brain stem. The inflammation then spreads to the pain-sensitive meninges (the protective tissue around the brain), causing headaches.

Clark said the series of vascular inflammation and nerve stimulation was like "a fire that got out of control." 'it 's like a feedback loop,'he says.'it is stimulated more and more, and the feeling of migraine becomes stronger and stronger. This is why many migraine treatments work better if used as early as possible.

Although the relationship between body pain and headaches has been established, the mechanism that causes headaches is not fully understood, Clark said. But the good news, he says, is that "we are very good at treating headaches." For example, lifestyle changes (such as practicing yoga); over-the-counter drugs such as ibuprofen and aspirin; prescription drugs for more severe headaches can greatly reduce the severity of headaches and reduce the frequency of headaches.

"if people need help [with headaches], we can often make them feel much better," Clark said. "

Source: reference message Network