A headache could make focusing and working throughout the day difficult. There are many types of headaches with different causes. If you have a headache at the temples, it could also indicate multiple reasons and requires medical attention. Therefore, keep reading to know why your temples hurt.
Headache at Temple Symptoms
Most of the time, a headache in the temples results from muscle tension. Furthermore, it could result in tension headaches, which can occur due to eye strain, teeth clenching, and stress. Primary headaches or other health conditions can cause temple headaches. You might experience these when your temples are affected:
- Both or one temple is tender
- Pain in one or both temples
- Pressure in the temples could be one or both
- Dull, aching, intense, or throbbing headache pain
- Vision loss
- Jaw pain
- Dizziness
What Causes a Headache at Temples?
Both primary headache disorders and secondary headache disorders can hurt your temples. Here are some reasons why you might have a headache in your temples:
- Tension Headaches Tension headaches typically cause pressure in your temples. You’ll experience dull, throbbing pain in your temples, usually on both sides. Tension headaches can last from 30 minutes to an entire week and are one possible reason your head feels heavy. They might occur due to these reasons:
- Stress
- Skipping meals
- Irregular or insufficient sleep
- Muscle tension in your jaw or neck
- Migraines The pressure in your temples could be a consequence of migraines. Migraine can cause severe symptoms, often leading to sharp pain in the temples. A migraine attack can reoccur periodically, lasting from 4 to 72 hours. In addition, this headache usually affects one side of your head. The symptoms might look like this:
- Unilateral headache
- Stabbing or pulsating pain in the head
- Moderate to severe headache
- Restlessness
- Visual disturbances
- Fatigue
Although the causes of migraine aren’t exactly clear, certain triggers set them off. These include lack of sleep, alcohol, specific foods and drinks, weather changes, etc.
- TMJ Disorders A dysfunction or pain in your temporomandibular joint, known as TMJ Disorder, is a likely reason for headaches at your temples. You might experience these symptoms:
- Stiff jaw
- Pain extending to your jaw, neck, and temples
- Jaw popping or snapping when you open and close your mouth.
- Restricted jaw movements
- Trouble chewing
- Ringing in ears or hearing loss
- Dizziness
- Tooth misalignment
- Cervicogenic Headache Your headache in the temples may be a symptom of other conditions. Injuries leading to nerve compression in the neck can lead to aching temples. Moreover, Arthritis or malformation in the paper spine can also cause these cervicogenic headaches. Hence, you’ll notice the signs apart from the headache at your temples:
- Face or side of the head hurts
- Necks, arms, shoulder, or area around your eye have pain
- Nausea or vomiting
- Blurry vision
- Experiencing sound and light sensitivity
- Infections Infections can also result in headaches or pressure in the temples. Hence, a bacterial, fungal, viral, or another kind of infection that affects your brain, ears, and sinuses might cause discomfort in your temples. Temple headaches usually result from these infections:
- Meningitis
- Sinusitis
- Ear Infection
What Should I Do?
A headache at the temples can result from many factors. Your doctor can help you understand the cause and suggest a suitable treatment as well. Our Sleep & Headache Solutions team has the expertise in what they do. Dial (832) 688-8886 to schedule an appointment with us.