Pain/Pressure in back of head when I laugh

[BLee]

Hi everyone! Well, I am still without a 100% positive answer, but here is the latest on what my "medical team" has discovered. First, and most important, everyone agrees that the pain is NOT being caused by any tumors, lesions, or any type of blockage in my ateries - BIG RELIEF!

What they HAVE ascertained so far - and I want to stress that this is MY situation, I am not trying to diagnose anyone else here, but only hope that this may be a helpful tip of what else to look at - First, I seem to be suffering from a loss of curvature of my cervical spine, also known as lordosis or khyphosis. A normal cervical spine bows slightly, like a backwards, like a "C". Looking at my x-rays, my neck is perfectly straight - actually leaning a little forward! As a result, pressure is being put on my occipital nerves, and when I exert energy, laugh, bend over, etc, the increased bloodflow and pressure on the nerves causes the pain. This condition is most well-known as being caused by whiplash, but in recent years, doctors say they are finding that people who spend an extraordinary amoung of time in front of a computer, or sitting in a slouched position (like when watching TV) tend to develop the same problem over the years.

Second, I have always had a "slight" case of scoliosis, but recent x-rays show that the curve of my lumbar spine is getting worse. This is also causing something called spondylosis (or maybe it is spondtlothesis?), or a turning of one of my hips. Again, the nerve running through my lower spine & hips are being pressed and causing pain.

So, now I am in a regiment of chiropractic care, massage, and physical therapy. I am also wearing a brand of shoes called Earth (not to be compared with Earth Shoes, sold at Walmart), that have something called "Negative Heel" technology & force your heel to be lower than your toes when standing/walking, which improves your poster & strengthens your core muscles (to better support your spine). I have to say, that as skeptical as I had become, I AM starting to actually see relief!!! I still have the pain in the back of my head from time to time, but it is lessening in both frequency & strength. I am VERY encouraged by all of this & hope that things contiue to improve.

I am still investigating other options with doctors (at least the ones I can get to listen to me & not treat me like I am some kind of drama queen!). I have a long history of hypothyroidism, so I just finished a long battery of blood tests to check on adrenal, blood sugar, and other chemical levels to see if anything there may possibly be having an affect as well.

Again, this is all my own experience and I don't mean to diagnose anyone else's issues. I only hope that my findings may help someone else discover what is going on with them. This has been one of the most frustrating and frightening times of my life - it's been extremely difficult finding a doctor who will listen to me and take me seriously. From reading the posts on this list, I know I am not alone in this, so to all of you I wish you the very best of luck in finding your own freedom from pain! BLee

[slikwit]

interesting i hav ebone pain that seems to be worse when my adrenal or thyroid feel weaknened

[BlizzardUK]

BLee, that would make perfect sense for me, as I use a computer all the time and have neck and back problems too. I am being sent for a neck MRI soon by my doctor as he thinks I may have a pinched nerve, but hopefully if I don't then it may be what you said. I will let people know what my MRI shows, as I think it probably does the back of the head too.

[BG1211]

Sometimes when I laugh, I get sore on the front of my head. It's more than likely to do with the facial muscles contracting. If you want to know more, you can e-mail me at: hydrocephalus@auditext.net

Thanks,
Brian

[Cell]

I'm glad I ran across this thread. I too have burning/stabbing pains in the back of my head, on both sides whenever I laugh, cough or do anything similarly straining. It has gotten worse lately, and had made me very nervous. I know now, after doing some reading from leads in this thread, that my symptoms can/could be caused by conditions I have already been diagnosed with. I do not want to make assumptions however, so I will be discussing this with my doctor, to rule out the other possibilities such as Chiari Malformation. After reading the symptom list, I wonder if the diagnosis of Migraine Syndrome may be incorrect. I suffer from a large portion of the symptoms listed for Chiari. Although many match symptoms of other health problems I have been diagnosed with... I want to be sure. It would be a relief either way to find that I do or do not have a different cause for my symptoms, simply to know for certain, what is causing the head pain.

[KirbyPop]

Wow. I just stopped by and read this thread for the first time. I feel some sort of comraderie between all of us suffering from this ailment after having come upon this thread... but it's a little concerning that after all of these posts, nobody knows for sure what is going on. I have the same problem -- when I laugh, I get this dull aching in the back of my head, just behind my ears on either side. Sometimes it happens when I'm not laughing, too. Nobody understands, or takes it seriously, but it's really uncomfortable.

I don't think I have that Chiari thing. I just don't. Not that I've been checked, but, let's say for instance I went for and MRI and got checked... and I FOR SURE didn't have it. Even though I am exhibiting the prior explained symptoms, I don't want to believe it's that. So, are we getting closer to pinpointing exactly what it may be, instead?

[weetsmom]

Hey everyone,

Im a 27 year old healthy female. Okay but I have been sick with this pressure in the back of my head for 14 weeks now. On May 15 I had a really bad headache, numbness in my face. I went to the er they said it's Migranies and that I need to see a neuro dr. So a couple of days later it was really bad. I had a headache on one side of my head, numbness in face and arm, my eyes looked funny and some other things going on. So I go to the er 30mins away. They rush me for treatment and tell me maybe a stroke. I leave there with a migranie. Okay so im thinking that im nuts. I see a neuro dr later that week, he says it has to do with occiptal nerves. He says I need shots in my head because its a nerve in my neck causing problems. Okay so I have the shots.

The next day still the same. So I go to my obgyn please help me and do blood test to find out whats wrong. Everything came back normal. I go to another doctor have a Mri done and they find white matter in my left frontal lobe. So they send me to another doctor. Kay!! Am I dead yet. Weeks are going by and they are just passing me around like a hot potatoe. So the new doctor says I will send you to someone else if I can't find the problem. I have a ct and another mri. The doctor said I have a lesion and im sending you to someone else. - so what is this. I get the run around everytime I go to the doc. So next they are sending me to emory in Atlanta GA. This should be fun.. LOL.

My Syptoms:
Pressure in the back of head
Left side headache, sometimes so bad that it hurts on the right side
Memory Loss (when im talking forget what im talking about)
Numbness in face (when having a full attack)
Numbness and weakness in arms (when having a full attack)
My tongue feels heavy - ok i know i have lot it.

Any help will do. Thanks Jamie

[Steve722]

I feel throbbing pressure, not directly in the back of my head, but on both sides of the back of my head. It happens during ANYTHING I do that get's my heart rate up, and it's effecting me and my gf. I don't know if this is too serious and it's worried me. I do spend a lot of time at a computer hunched over, and I sleep with 2 pillows so my head can be at an odd angle. Not exactly sure what I should do or how this can be fixed, but it's driving me nuts because I feel like I'm unable to do anything while this throbbing pressure/pain is happening. It go so bad the other day I started to vomit, and this has only been happening for a few days now. Any suggestions? Please?

[Abbydoodle]

The question is the pain In the head (skull so to speak) or Outside with the muscles and such (massage and feel).

Outside reasons could be some of these and more of course

• TMJ syndrome -- if you hurt on both sides, could be problems with jaw joints, you may clench teeth at night. Will cause muscle aches across top of head and back to the two ridge points on each side. Will make ears hurt, may have sore throat. Can have nausea and such. Will hurt when laughing and such if you move jaw.
• Problems with cervical structure versus head movement, tendons etc.

Inside reasons

• Migraines there are a type that are triggered in morning
• Seizures tied to migraines that are triggered in morning
• Migraines can make a head hurt in the back, one side, both, in front, or all over. Or in clusters or sharp pains. Migraines can be tied to types of epilepsy--there are many types. They can make your head fell full

Facial Numbness

• Gullien Barre (did I spell right)
• TMJ and other neural problems in that area
• Migraines
• Impinged nerves in spinal area

Forgive me, I am just trying to give you some easy reasons rather than giving everyone brain tumors. Mine ended upping somewhat complicated. I had the TMJ with headaches, then Seizures with Migraines. My head hurts 24 hours a day. Laughing, bending over or whatever can make it hurt worse if it is in a foul mood. Migraines can make your head feel like it is full of cotton or fluid.

If it is your brain. It will be a complicated thing. They have been treating mine for 30 years and started with the TMJ and Barre and realized in the past year that the migraines I am waking up with every day are really a symptom of the seizures I am waking up with every day. But there is no tumor.

So help your doctors. Rub your head all over and see if you can find sore spots. Is there muscle spasms. Figure out if in or out. Help them all you can. There are hundreds of things to weed out. The more they can throw out at first, the quicker you will be happy.

[kellyb]

Ok, I am having the exact same problem, but I only started noticing mine after I had my wisdom teeth taken out. Has anyone else had that problem? But I know exactly what you all are talking about, it's both sides of the back of my head usually only when I laugh.