Headache and Migraines Forum - Right sided temporal headaches: Aneurism or something else?

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Q: Right sided temporal headaches: Aneurism or something else?

asked by: DoctorQuestion on September 21st, 2006

For about a week and a half, I have had strange right sided temporal headaches. It began with a bad headache on the top right side of my head, and was relieved by laying down and worse upon standing up/movement. The bad headache stopped, but now an intermittent right sided temporal headache remains, with some dull pain in the area of the first headache. The pain seems to be right around the superficial temporal artery, and that artery seems sligthly more swollen, and is quite tender to the touch and induces a dull pain when i touch it. Sometimes a jolt of sharp pain will hit in the area.
Symptoms that I did have but are now gone are extreme pressure in the right side of the head, and dizziness and a slight cold. An E.R. dr. said i had fluid in the ear and prescribe amoxicillin, which i have been taking for 6 days.
I am scared of an aneurysm, but the E.R. dr. did not think an MRI was necessary, however a CT of the head was given. Something that could possibly be of help is that I drove from MN to FL 3 days before this all began and there is a huge change in weather, humidity and pressure. Not sure if it's related though. Is it possible this is an aneurysm, or what else could it be?

Replies(2)

Dr. Nikola Gjuzelov , MD

replied on October 5th, 2006

Headache, Migraines, Sinus Conditions Answer A1559

According to the symptoms you describe (headache in the temporal region), and your pre-existing condition (TMJ)... you could be experiencing TMJ-syndrome or inflammation of the middle ear. Fluid in the ear indicates and inflammation in the beginning of the middle ear. You can check your blood pressure and compare it between standing and laying down positions. Blood pressure decreases when standing up; this may also cause a headache.
It doesn’t seem likely that you have an aneurism which affects the arteries of the brain. An aneurism of the brain's arteries, in most cases, has no symptoms before a rupture occurs. In case of rupture, an aneurism manifests dramatically (headache, vomiting, lose of consciousness…) and it is life threatening. Aneurisms can be confirmed and localized only via cerebral angiography. A CT-scan can’t confirm an un-ruptured aneurism.

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