Additional symptoms may vary depending on the cause of the head pressure.
Tension headaches often cause tension in the neck and scalp muscles, leading to a feeling of head pressure.
Sometimes, figuring out what is causing discomfort with a headache can be challenging.
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Pain, pressure, irritability, and nausea are all symptoms that can occur with headaches.
There are several potential causes, some more serious than others.
Tension Headache
Tension headachesare the most common form of headache.
What it feels like:Tension headaches feel like pressure squeezing around your head.
Tension headaches can also run in families.
Depending on which sinuses are infected, the location of where these headaches cause pressure can vary.
True sinus headaches are rare and typically accompanied by thick, discolored nasal drainage.
Migraine
Migraines are recurring headaches that cantake many forms.
Classified as a neurological disease rather than just a headache, migraines affect about 39 million Americans.
Migraines are often genetic and can run in families.
One-sided head pain is the most common, but pain may also be felt on both sides.
Causes:There are many different migraine triggers, which are usually unique to each person.
Ear Conditions
Your ears help your body sense movement and balance.
In addition to vestibular migraines, anear infectioncan also cause feelings of pressure or pain in your head.
Ear infectionscan also cause feelings of pressure or pain in the head.
They put pressure on the delicate structures of the middle and inner ear.
Causes:Many situations that trigger regular migraines can also trigger vestibular migraines.
Examples include weather patterns, hormones, stress, and certain foods.
Ear infections are often brought on by a viral illness or, less commonly, a bacterial infection.
Contact sports are common causes of concussions.
What it feels like:Head pressure and headache are typical symptoms reported with concussions.
People often experience other symptoms, such as nausea, dizziness, light sensitivity, and head pain.
Causes:Direct trauma to the head causes a concussion.
What it feels like:The pain depends on the specific cause.
Causes:For some people, there is no apparent cause, and this is calledidiopathic intracranial hypertension.
When they occur in the blood vessels in the brain, they are known as acerebral or brain aneurysm.
What it feels like:Aneurysms typically only cause pain and symptoms when they’ve become large.
A ruptured aneurysm will cause sudden, severe pain and is a medical emergency.
Some of these include:
Is It a Brain Tumor?
A common concern with pressure in the head is a brain tumor.
Brain tumors are uncommon, and it is unlikely that abrain tumoris causing your head pain.
Allergies causing increased sinus pressure and headaches may need an OTC antihistamine.
Anxiety and depression can contribute to several headache types.
Individuals who experience stress or anxiety-induced headaches may benefit from therapy and medications from their healthcare providers.
There are prescription medications available both to treat anxiety and also to treat migraines.
They will likely conduct a physical exam, including a neurological exam.
This includes testing reflexes, coordination, andcranial nerve function.
Both of these scans can be performed with or without a special bang out of dye called contrast.
Summary
Headache, injury, illness, or disease can cause pressure in your head.
The location of the pressure or pain can help your healthcare provider determine the cause.
Most of the time, pressure in your head is not serious.
Talk to your healthcare provider about any concerns about your symptoms.
Regardless of severity, identifying the cause and finding an effective treatment is important to your health.
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