Headaches (And Scalp Pain), Mainly One Side?

[9na]

Anyone else experience this? My scalp is tender to touch, and also sore when not touched. And sometimes I have it aching in an area. This is mainly on the right side of my head.

Also my right eye i dryer than my left, and my right ear ache more than my left.

I also have neck pain, and it hurts to turn my head all the way to the right side.

My left hand is numb more often than my right hand, too.

Could all of this be caused by a pinched nerve or something like that? Could a chiropractor possibly help me? I've had this for several months, the neck is never all good, neither is my eye, the tingling and pain comes and goes more or less - ups and downs..

[ravenwoodglass]

You could try a chiro and see if it helps. Have you mentioned this to your doctor? If not it would be a good idea. He may want to refer you for a consultation with a neuro.

[9na]

You could try a chiro and see if it helps. Have you mentioned this to your doctor? If not it would be a good idea. He may want to refer you for a consultation with a neuro.

I have a list of symptoms long as....well, I don't think my doctor remembers or ckecks them all, but she believes they are all related - and she believes I have celiac (she's sending me to have a biopsy, even though my bloodwork was fine).

I have been too a neuro, though - my eye doctor sent me because my one pupil is larger than the other. The pupil size probably was like that all my life, and the neuro said I was all fine. I had a good day when I saw her, but that shouldn't mean too much I guess... She tested my reflexes, I walked across the room in different ways etc.

So I try to believe it is nothing scary that's wrong with me, but somethimes I find that really hard to believe...

[tarnalberry]

It does sound like seeing a chiropractor could help. Even a massage therapist. Especially since you describe pain in your neck and symptoms primarily on one side, it could be posture/tension on one side of the neck pinching the nerves and creating additional tension through the body in nearby sites.

[9na]

It does sound like seeing a chiropractor could help. Even a massage therapist. Especially since you describe pain in your neck and symptoms primarily on one side, it could be posture/tension on one side of the neck pinching the nerves and creating additional tension through the body in nearby sites.

Yes, but the numbness in hands and feet are mainly (though not exclusively) on the opposite side - the left. The neck, head and scalp-thing is mainly on the right.

Hm. Could it still be a pinched nerve or something like that?

[tarnalberry]

I really can't say. It's possible, but a question of what is going on. The fact that it's painful to turn your head far to one side is a VERY telling symptom, however. It's far too complicated in three dimensional space to say how likely that sort of thing is without being able to see you! It could certainly be other things, but that's just the first one I'd look into.

[9na]

I really can't say. It's possible, but a question of what is going on. The fact that it's painful to turn your head far to one side is a VERY telling symptom, however. It's far too complicated in three dimensional space to say how likely that sort of thing is without being able to see you! It could certainly be other things, but that's just the first one I'd look into.

So you mean it would be a good idea to see a chiropractor first of all? because that is my plan - as soon as I have money for it

[IrishHeart]

I know this is an older post but I wanted to say I have experienced the same kind of pain. Even the weird scalp pain and tightness. TIGHT muscles may cause this pain. I wonder if you have had relief? I see a chiro and a massage therapist (MRIs of brain and neck was normal) --yeah, okay...but I still have all this pain, doctor! Geesh...I did tons of research and they are muscular trigger points. Knots in shortened, tight muscles--and they can compress nerves as well and send pain to various places. And they can cause pain, tingling, parasthesia and poor range of motion, etc. You may wish to look them up--not "tender points" like in fibromyalgia--but TRIGGER points in myofascial pain. They come from poor posture, forward head, repetitive strain, vitamin deficiencies and malabsorption, viruses. They are a bugger to treat but it can be done with appropriate stretches and body work with someone who knows what they are and the pain they cause.

Hope this helps!

[bartfull]

There is another fairly common condition called cervical ribs. They are a congential defect that about one in every hundred people have. I have these.There are small vestigal ribs growing out of my lower neck/upper back. The thing is, the are "floating ribs" and they move. If I move the wrong way, stretch in my sleep, or hold my arms out in front of me for more than a few seconds, these ribs hit a nerve.

The first time it happened, I was sound asleep. I woke up in such pain I couldn't even speak, just a puppyish whimper. Now I am VERY careful of how I move, and I have told my subconscious not to stretch, not ever.

Some people have it even worse though. I knew a (young!) woman who was in a fender bender. Her left arm swelled up, and the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. They treated her with all of the wrong things and finally she had to have her arm amputated at the shoulder.

It turned out, she had cervical ribs and the accident caused one of hers to press on the main artery to her arm. By the time they xrayed her neck the tissue in her arm was already dying so they had to amputate anyway.

Most people who have them don't even know it until they have an accident of some type. (For me, well, I feel foolish saying this, but when I was 35 I was trying to show off to a friend that I could still do a headstand...)