Headaches are an annoying but incredibly common ailment. They affect almost 22 percent of the world’s population each year – or around 1.6 billion individuals. Most of the time, a headache is nothing to worry about. They can be caused by:

headache

  • a need to eat or drink
  • stress
  • eye strain
  • jaw strain
  • neck strain
  • ear pressure
  • exhaustion
  • getting too much physical exercise (overexertion)
  • allergies
  • the common cold or flu
  • sinus infection

When one of these underlying issues is to blame, the best thing you can do is simply get some rest, drink some water, and have a small snack high in protein. This being said, there are sometimes when a headache needs to be evaluated immediately by trained medical professionals.

When To Go To Urgent Care

If any of the below items apply to your current headache, you should seek evaluation at your local urgent care center.

  • A headache is the “worst ever”
  • You experience vomiting, extremely blurred vision, or ringing in the ears (unless you have a migraine disorder diagnosis)
  • It is accompanied by a stiff neck and a high fever
  • You have never had a headache before
  • You experience confusion, slurred speech, seizures, weakness, numbness, or paralysis with your headache
  • A painful red eye accompanies your headache
  • You have experienced a blow or trauma to the head in the past 48 hours
  • A headache comes on quickly, without warning – most headaches will appear slowly and get worse gradually
  • You are woken up in the middle of the night or from a nap by the pain of a headache
  • The pain from your headache is severe enough to significantly interfere with your normal daily activities

At Urgent Care

It is important not to panic. Even with one or more of the above symptoms, it may not be serious – but it does definitely warrant being examined.

Be sure to have someone else drive you if you are unable to safely drive yourself. Also, be certain to give a thorough explanation of your headache. This includes when it appeared, how severe the pain is, and what other symptoms coincide with a headache. 

We are here for you! Visit MD Express Urgent Care.