Headache Behind Eye? How to Spot Potential Brain Aneurysm Symptoms

When you’re trying to figure out your individual headache reasons, you might find yourself wondering if you’re having brain aneurysm symptoms. If you are, it’s vital to seek medical attention, since brain aneurysm symptoms can signal that a blood vessel in the brain is leaking, or is about to rupture. The latter is fatal in about 40 percent of cases.

So why do brain aneurysm symptoms occur, and could your headaches be a warning sign? First, it helps to know what an aneurysm is.

What Is an Aneurysm?

Aneurysms are weak areas in the arteries that bulge outwards to form a balloon. You can develop an aneurysm anywhere in your body, but they are especially common in the aorta, which is the main artery carrying oxygenated blood from the heart into the body. If an aneurysm occurs here, it’s called an aortic aneurysm, and it can develop in the abdomen or the chest area.

It’s less common to develop a brain aneurysm (also called a cerebral aneurysm), but certain risk factors increase your vulnerability—for example, they are more common in people age 40 and older (particularly women), people with a family history of brain aneurysms, and people who’ve suffered head injuries. High blood pressure and atherosclerosis (hardened arteries) also increase your risk, along with inherited conditions that weaken blood vessels (for example, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, in which reduced levels of a protein called collagen render body tissues fragile), and blood vessel abnormalities in the brain. Smoking and/or drinking heavily and a history of cocaine abuse also can factor in.

If you fit into any of these categories, it’s important to be aware of which brain aneurysm symptoms might signal a medical emergency.

FreeGuide_cover_Pain_wShield_300

Stop Living With Pain!

Download this expert FREE guide, Pain relief: Headache causes, migraines, spinal stenosis, sciatic nerve pain, lower back pain and more.

This FREE guide shows you how to successfully target and treat the most common forms of pain.

Stay Alert for These Brain Aneurysm Symptoms

Certain brain aneurysm symptoms can suggest the presence of a large unruptured aneurysm. These include:

  • Headaches (particularly headache behind eye, headache between eyes, and headache above eyes).
  • Dilated pupils
  • Blurred or double vision

Other brain aneurysm symptoms red-flag a possible rupture. Even though the bleeding from a rupture typically lasts only for a few seconds, it can damage brain cells and increase pressure in the brain, disrupting the flow of oxygen. The pressure also can block the flow of cerebrospinal fluid around the brain, causing a build-up of fluid that further increases damaging pressure on the brain. Increased pressure can result in a coma, brain damage, and/or death. Even if you survive the immediate aftermath of a rupture, blood vessels in the brain can gradually constrict in the days and weeks afterwards. Called vasospasm, this condition can trigger a stroke. Symptoms:

  • Sudden, severe headache
  • Sudden onset of blurred or double vision
  • Drooping eyelids
  • Stiff neck
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Sudden weakness and dizziness
  • Sudden light sensitivity
  • Seizures
  • Loss of consciousness

Brain Aneurysm Treatment

It’s possible to have a brain aneurysm and not be aware of it, and not all brain aneurysms rupture. If you’re diagnosed with a brain aneurysm that hasn’t leaked or ruptured, your doctor will consider a number of factors pertaining to your brain aneurysm symptoms (including the size and position of the aneurysm, your age and overall health status, and your family medical history) before recommending a course of action.

It’s possible that observation with regular imaging scans may be recommended if your doctor thinks that modifying certain risk factors—for example, taking medications to control high blood pressure, and quitting smoking—may help prevent your brain aneurysm from rupturing. But if your brain aneurysm needs treatment to reduce the risk for future leakage or rupture, you may be advised to have surgery to seal the aneurysm. Options include:

Endovascular coiling is carried out using a catheter, which is inserted into an artery in the groin and maneuvered up to the brain aneurysm. Tiny coils of platinum wire are then passed through the catheter into the aneurysm to form a bundle of coils that seals it off. This is open surgery, and requires that a small section of the skull be removed so that a small clip (or clips) can be positioned at the base of the aneurysm, to cut off its blood supply.

If a brain aneurysm is particularly large, or has damaged the artery, your doctor may recommend bypass surgery. This involves closing off the affected artery and rerouting the blood supply through a grafted-on blood vessel taken from elsewhere in the body.


Originally published in February 2016 and updated.

The post Headache Behind Eye? How to Spot Potential Brain Aneurysm Symptoms appeared first on University Health News.

Read Original Article: Headache Behind Eye? How to Spot Potential Brain Aneurysm Symptoms »

Powered by WPeMatico