About every month or two, I get a headache in front of one of my ears. It’s one of those ones that attack with a quick sharp pain throb at odd intervals. When I put my finger up in front of the ear, I can feel the vein & it seems like that’s exactly where the pain is coming from.
Anyone know what causes this? I also get sinus headaches, but those go right away with sinus headache OTC pills. This thing hangs on for HOURS, despite throwing class 3 pain killers at it.
Many headaches, and especially headaches due to migraine and its variants, arise from the blood vessels of the brain and skull, and/or from blood vessels putting traction on surrounding, pain-sensitive tissues.
Judging from the fact that you can clearly identify the pain as arising from one of the blood vessels on your face/scalp, it seems that’s what’s going on in your case.
It should go without saying that if you have any concerns about your headache, you really should see a physician.
There is one thing, though that I wanted to note explicitly and is the primary reason I am posting this response:
Specifically, in an older person (say, over age 55), a NEW or INCREASING headache that seems to originate from a blood vessel in the face/scalp (and, in particular, from a blood vessel above or in front of the ear - diagram) could be a symptom of a very serious condition known as temporal arteritis (TA), also known as giant cell arteritis. TA is a vision-threatening disease that is, thankfully, easily treatable. The key thing is thinking of it, and then making the diagnosis.
I have glaucoma and get a battery of tests every 3-4 months - would these catch TA or should I call my eye dr? Of course, I just had the tests done and won’t be in there until January. :smack: