Right-Sided Headache: Understanding Causes, Significance, and Speedy Relief Strategies
Suffering from a headache on the right side of your skull? Here's the lowdown on what might be causing it, and how to manage the pain.
A right-sided headache could be the result of various factors, like medication use, allergies, migraines, or even neurological issues. Let's dive into the details.
Single-sided triggers
Some conditions may lead to headaches on just one side. They include:
- Temporal arteritis: Inflammation of the temporal artery, often observed on just one side. Other symptoms are fatigue, jaw pain, and tender temples.
- Trigeminal neuralgia: Intense face and head pain, usually affecting one side at a time, due to nerve disruption.
- Sinus headaches: Common in folks with a deviated septum, these headaches often occur on the affected side.
Both-sided troublemakers
Certain conditions usually affect both sides but might be more localized in some instances. For example, occipital neuralgia typically affects both sides, but it can present as one-sided symptoms. This condition occurs when the occipital nerves, running from the top of the spinal cord to the scalp, become damaged or inflamed.
Other causes include allergies, infections, dehydration, muscle strains, tumors, and fluctuating blood sugar levels.
Medication-induced migraines
Headaches can be a side effect of prescription or OTC medications, or from overusing them. This type of headache, called a medication overuse headache, is quite common and may be the culprit behind your aching cranium. These headaches can affect both sides or just one, and they don't always stick to the same location.
Common headache types
There are many types of headaches, with migraines and cluster headaches being the most likely causes for a headache on one side. Tension headaches may also cause pain on one side for some people.
Migraines
Genetics play a role in migraines, which cause severe throbbing pain, blurred vision, nausea, sensitivity to light, sensitivity to sound, and vomiting. The pain may not always be on the same side with every episode.
Cluster headaches
Cluster headaches are severe, one-sided headaches that occur in cyclical patterns. The pain is intense and usually around one eye, radiating to other areas, such as the neck and shoulders. People might experience frequent attacks for weeks or months before a period of remission. Other symptoms include facial sweating, pale or flushed skin, swelling around the affected eye, and other eye-related issues.
Tension headaches
Tension headaches are the most common type, affecting around 1 in 5 people. They usually affect both sides of the head, but they might cause symptoms on one side for some people. Symptoms include dull, aching pain, tight and tender neck and shoulder muscles, and tightness or pressure across the forehead, sides, or back of the head.
When to seek help
Most headaches resolve on their own, but people who experience headaches regularly should consult with a doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment. Anyone with the following symptoms alongside a headache should seek immediate medical attention:
- Vision changes
- Confusion
- Fever
- Head injury
- Increased pain during movement
- Neck stiffness
- Numbness
- Personality or cognitive changes
- Rash
- Sleep disturbances
- Slurred speech
- Weakness
If headaches always occur on the same side, this could be a cause for concern and requires a medical evaluation.
For frequent questions about headaches, please see our FAQ section.
[1] Mayo Clinic. (2021). Migraine. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/migraine-headache/symptoms-causes/syc-20373077[2] American Migraine Foundation. (2021). Understanding One-Sided Headaches. https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/resource-library/understanding-one-sided-headaches/[3] National Headache Foundation. (2021). Sinus Headaches. https://www.headaches.org/2021/02/04/sinus-headaches/[4] Cleveland Clinic. (2021). Migraine Headaches in Adults. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21683-migraine-headaches-in-adults[5] UCSF Health. (2021). Hemicrania Continua. https://www.ucsfhealth.org/conditions/hemicrania_continua
- Some singular causes for a right-sided headache could be temporal arteritis, trigeminal neuralgia, or sinus headaches, each presenting unique symptoms and characteristics.
- If a person is experiencing regular headaches, and especially ones that always occur on the same side, they should consult with a healthcare professional to seek a proper diagnosis and treatment.
- When treating migraines, it's important to understand that genetics play a role in their occurrence, and they can cause severe throbbing pain, blurred vision, nausea, and sensitivity to light among other symptoms.
- In cases where medication use leads to headaches, it's crucial to be aware that this might be a sign of a medication overuse headache, a common condition where the headache is often localized on either side or just one.
- Apart from migraines, cluster headaches are another type of one-sided headache, characterized by severe pain around one eye, usually in cyclical patterns, and accompanied by facial sweating, pale or flushed skin, swelling around the affected eye, and other eye-related issues.
