Low back pain has a high healthcare burden, and in the most recent global burden of disease study, both low back pain and migraine were featured in the five leading causes of years lived with disability. It is defined as a headache occurring on ≥15 days per month for more than 3 months. Chronic headache is a severely disabling condition affecting around 3–4% of adults worldwide. Migraine and tension-type headache featured in two of the eight causes of chronic disease and injury, each affecting more than 10% of the world’s population. The commonest types of headache are migraine, tension-type (both primary headaches) and medication overuse headache (a secondary headache). Each headache disorder has specific diagnostic criteria. Low back pain and headache are leading causes of disability worldwide. The quality of the review findings is limited by diversity of populations, study designs and uncertainly about headache and LBP definitions. We identified a positive association between persistent LBP and primary headache disorders. Only two studies presented data investigating persistent LBP and chronic headache disorders in accordance with ICDH criteria. Study heterogeneity meant statistical pooling was not possible. The sizes of the studies ranged from 88 participants to a large international study with 404, 206 participants.
Our secondary outcomes were any associations between severity of LBP and severity of headache, and the relationship between specific headache sub-types classified as per International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD) criteria and persistent LBP. Our primary outcome was the association between primary headache disorders and persistent LBP.
Methodological quality was assessed using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.
HEADACHE IN FRONT OF HEAD FREE
We included case-control, cross-sectional and cohort studies that included a headache and back pain free group, reporting on any association between persistent LBP and primary headache disorders. QUESTION A migraine is a result of neurological (nerve) dysfunction.To systematically review studies quantifying the association between primary chronic headaches and persistent low back pain (LBP). While uncommon, life-threatening causes of headaches may include intracerebral bleeding and brain aneurysm. Rarely, orbital tumors can cause pain behind the eye.ĬAUTION: If you are experiencing the worst headache of your life, or if you have unexplained symptoms such as weakness, numbness or tingling, imbalance, or falling, you should be seen for evaluation immediately. If the pain is located behind both eyes, sinus headache may be a consideration. Giant cell arteritis is a less common cause of pain on the side of the head in people over the age of 55 years.īehind eye: Pain located behind one eye can be seen with migraine headache. Tension headache can cause pressure and pain along both sides of the head. Very severe pain on one side of the head may suggest cluster headache. Side of head: Pain on the side of the head can be associated with migraine headaches, especially if the pain is one-sided or unilateral. Other causes include shingles and occipital neuritis. Top of head: Pain along the top of the head is non-specific and can be seen with tension headaches as well as migraine headaches.īack of head: Headache pain occurring along the back of the head is often associated with tension headache, especially if spasms of the neck or cervical spinal muscles are identified. If the pain is one-sided, then migraine or cluster headache may be more likely. Forehead: Headaches that occur along both sides of the forehead are often tension headaches or sinus headaches.