Coughing is a common occurrence. It’s the body’s way of getting rid of particles and substances that shouldn’t be in our throat and lungs. It’s a common symptom of the flu, colds, bronchitis, pneumonia, and many other illnesses. It’s also typical with allergies, asthma, acid reflux, and a variety of additional problems. Though it can be annoying and uncomfortable, especially if it’s constant or prolonged, it’s typically completely normal and not a cause for concern.
Sometimes, though, coughing comes with more than the typical accompanying symptoms. In some cases, it can cause headaches, and they can be unpleasant and unnerving. It’s common to wonder if those cough-induced headaches are signs of something serious. Knowing why your head hurts when coughing can ease your mind and help you understand when it might be more than just a side-effect of a simple, harmless issue.
Primary Versus Secondary Cough Headaches
Before delving into the potential causes of pain in your head when you cough, let’s talk about the two main categories of cough headaches: primary and secondary. Primary cough headaches are typically harmless, and they’re not caused by any underlying medical conditions. They’re basically headaches that aren’t there until you cough or get slightly worse when you cough. They usually last a few seconds or minutes but fade away on their own.
On the other hand, secondary cough headaches are caused by other medical conditions, many of which can be serious. With secondary cough headaches, the pain usually occurs on one side of the head or at the back of the skull. It can last days or longer with little relief, if any. Secondary cough headaches are often accompanied by additional symptoms, like dizziness, weakness, blurred vision, loss of balance, numbness in the face and arms, and fainting.
What Causes Headaches When You Cough?
Headaches from coughing can cause different types of pain from dull aches and squeezing sensations to sharp, stabbing pains and ongoing throbbing. It may last only a few seconds or linger for hours. It can occur behind your eyes, in your temples, at the back of your skull, or seem like it’s engulfing your entire head and beyond. These cough-induced headaches can happen for several reasons.
Congestion and Sinus Pressure
For most people, headaches when coughing are caused by excess pressure from nasal congestion and sinus inflammation. This can come from a cold, the flu, allergies, and any other condition that causes congestion and nasal irritation. When the sinus cavities are swollen or full of mucus, that causes pressure to build up in the head. It can cause ongoing headaches, especially around the eyes, nose, and forehead. That pain can even extend into the ears and jaws and make your teeth hurt.
When you cough, it causes a temporary increase in the pressure. That, in turn, makes the pain to intensify. You may also notice that it gets worse when you bend over, sneeze, or even turn your head. Though it’s definitely not a good experience, it’s nothing to worry about. It’s a normal result of unusual amounts of pressure in your sinuses. It’ll ultimately go away on its own as your sinus issues and congestion clear up.
Muscle Tension
Another common cause of cough headaches is muscle tension. If you’ve been tense or stressed, the muscles in your head, neck, chest, and shoulders are probably tight. That can give you a headache in its own right. If you cough, it can make the pain worse because of the sudden extra movement and force exerted on those muscles. Even if you don’t have a noticeable tension headache beforehand, coughing can induce sudden pain in your head due to the preexisting tension.
Migraine Sensitivity
People who live with migraines are more likely to have to deal with headaches when they cough. Migraines can come with heightened sensitivity to a variety of sensory inputs, including sound, light, smell, and touch. Pressure in the head can certainly cause added pain as well. With that being the case, coughing can definitely cause sudden headaches.
Some migraine sufferers even experience specific cough-triggered migraines where coughing is the final straw that pushes their migraines to full force. In cases like those, coughing can bring on not only excruciating throbbing that may last hours or days but also blurred or double vision, nausea, and increased sensitivity to other stimuli.
More Serious Causes of Cough Headaches
Those previously mentioned causes of cough headaches are fairly common and not very serious. Migraines are the exception to that rule, but if you’re already under a doctor’s care for migraines, they can help you mitigate the symptoms. The treatments you’re already using may alleviate the pain and other effects of cough headaches, or your doctor may recommend supplementary measures to ease the discomfort.
That said, cough headaches can sometimes be a result of potentially dangerous underlying issues. Those conditions aren’t as common, but they’re more serious. They may include brain aneurysms, tumors, and Chiari malformation, which is a condition where the cerebellum sits lower than normal. Cerebrospinal fluid leaks can also lead to cough headaches.
Certain symptoms are indications that a cough headache may stem from more serious problems. Loss of balance or coordination, vision changes, nausea, vomiting, numbness, dizziness, disorientation, or clear fluid draining from the nose or ears are some of the warning signs to watch for.
As mentioned, cough headaches that are caused by serious underlying medical conditions typically last much longer than those that come with colds, allergies, and tension, and the pain may grow progressively worse over time. If you experience any of these symptoms along with a cough headache, you should seek medical attention right away.
Getting Help for Cough Headaches
Cough headaches are most commonly caused by pressure in the head and nasal passages or muscle tension. Though they’re uncomfortable, they’re usually not serious. Over-the-counter pain, cold, sinus, or allergy medications can help relieve the discomfort. In some cases, though, cough headaches are signs of more threatening underlying conditions. If a headache when you cough is accompanied by any of the serious symptoms mentioned above or the pain doesn’t go away on its own fairly quickly, see a doctor as quickly as possible.