Key Takeaways A headache behind the eyes can be caused by migraine, sinusitis, tension headache, cluster headache, eye strain, dehydration, illness or medication overuse. Pain behind the eyes with nausea, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity or one-sided throbbing pain may point towards migraine. A headache behind the eyes and forehead with a blocked nose, thick nasal discharge, facial pressure or reduced sense of smell may be linked to sinusitis. A severe headache behind one eye with restlessness, tearing, a blocked nostril, or a drooping eyelid can suggest a cluster headache and should be assessed. Seek urgent help if a headache is sudden and extremely painful, accompanied by vision loss, weakness, numbness, confusion, a seizure, a stiff neck, a rash, or difficulty speaking. Healthwords offers headache and migraine treatment resources, including guidance on pain relief, migraine treatments and sumatriptan. A headache behind the eyes can feel like pressure, a throbbing, aching, or stabbing pain, or a tight sensation around the eye sockets and forehead. Some people describe it as pain behind the eyes, while others notice a headache behind one eye or behind both eyes and across the forehead at the same time. The reassuring news is that most headaches are not serious and can often be managed with rest, fluids and suitable pain relief. However, headaches behind the eyes can sometimes be linked to migraine, sinusitis, cluster headaches, potential eye problems, or a more urgent medical issue or infection. Therefore, it is always advised that you get medically assessed if you are suffering from severe pain or chronic, recurring headaches. When being assessed by healthword.ai, the pattern of the pain, how quickly it started, and any other symptoms are just some of the factors that will be taken into account. Every case is handled individually, and advice and care are tailored to your needs. This guide explains common causes of headaches behind the eyes, how migraines can differ from sinus headaches, what may help, and when to seek medical advice. What Does a Headache Behind The Eyes Mean? A headache behind the eyes is a symptom, not a diagnosis. The pain may feel as though it is coming from the eyes, but it can also come from nearby parts of the facial region or head, such as the sinuses, nerves, scalp muscles, or blood vessels. Common patterns include: Pressure around both eyes and the forehead. Throbbing pain behind one eye. A tight band-like ache across the forehead. Sharp or stabbing pain around one eye. Pain that worsens with movement, light or screens. Pain with nasal congestion, blocked sinuses or facial tenderness. Pain with vision changes, eye redness or nausea. Official NHS guidance lists common headache causes as: stress, alcohol, bad posture, eyesight problems, dehydration, missed meals, taking too many painkillers, and periods and menopause. The guidance also notes that severe headaches can sometimes be caused by migraine or cluster headaches. Headache Behind Eyes and Forehead: Common Patterns A headache behind the eyes and forehead is often described as a pressure-type pain. It may be linked to sinus congestion, a tension headache, eye strain, migraine or be an indication of general illness. Sinusitis Sinusitis is one possible cause, especially if the pain sits around the cheeks, eyes and forehead. Sinusitis can cause a blocked nose, green or yellow nasal discharge, pain and tenderness around the cheeks, eyes or forehead, fever, toothache, reduced sense of smell and bad breath. Migraines Migraines can also cause pain around or behind the eye. Migraine attacks can cause a severe throbbing headache, often on one side, and may come with nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light and sound. Some people also get aura symptoms, including visual changes, tingling, dizziness or difficulty speaking. Distinguishing between the two conditions A useful clue is what comes with the pain.  Blocked nose and thick discharge may point more towards sinusitis. Whereas, light sensitivity, nausea and throbbing pain may point more towards migraine.  Sudden severe pain, eye redness, new vision changes or neurological symptoms should be treated more urgently. If ever seriously in doubt, call or get someone to call 111 on your behalf.

Vertigo the sensation that you are in motion, even when you are standing still, or that everything around you is moving. It feels similar to being on a boat, and can result in the same feeling of loss of balance, nausea and vomiting. The attack typically lasts from a few seconds to minutes, but it can last days. Effects range from minimal to severe enough to affect your daily life, but it's more than just dizziness. Vertigo has nothing to do with a fear of heights. This is a popular misconception that started from the Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same name. Acrophobia means fear of heights, but it may cause a spinning sensation when looking down from a high place that is similar to some aspects of vertigo.

You have clusters of lymph nodes all over the body, and people often refer to these as glands. Most people have experienced them swelling at the time of a cold or tonsilitis, just under the jawline on either side of the neck. When you’re well, you can’t usually feel lymph nodes (although it is possible to feel ones that are close to the surface of the skin!). They swell up in a normal response to infection, which is when you can feel them more prominently in the neck, armpits or groin. They also sit in the chest and tummy. There are some occasions when one or more lymph nodes may be concerning, and need to be checked out.

Swelling in the ankles, feet or legs is often caused by fluid build-up and we call it oedema. Your legs might look puffy, shiny or stretched, and they might feel a bit sore or heavy and cause difficulty walking. It's quite common in very warm weather, especially if you've been on your feet all day. It often goes away on its own within, but it’s reasonable to see your doctor if it does not improve after a few days or your symptoms are getting worse.

Sweaty palms are also known as palmar hyperhidrosis. Hyperhidrosis, a condition characterised by excessive sweating beyond what is necessary for thermoregulation, can significantly impact the quality of life physically, emotionally and psychologically. Sweating is one of the key ways our body regulates its temperature and effectively cools down. Overactive sweat glands cause individuals to sweat more than needed - this can lead to the experience of sweaty palms. Sweaty palms do not usually indicate a serious problem but on occasion, it can be caused by an underlying condition.

Seizures occur when the brain’s normal communication of electrical activity is interrupted. Seizures in children can occur for several reasons, and the first time they need to go to the emergency department for urgent assessment as to why they’ve had a fit. If no clear cause is found and they have two or more seizures, this is diagnosed as epilepsy.

As doctors, we talk about seizures, but the general public use the terms seizures and fits interchangeably. Most people think of a seizure as when someone falls to the ground and their body starts shaking and jerking uncontrollably. But seizures can be more subtle, affecting just one side of the body or one limb, or even repetitive finger or eye movement, or there may be no visible signs, and in an absence seizure a person zones out for a few seconds or minutes without movements. Seizures all have in common a disruption to normal brain activity, and the person affected is unable to control a seizure, put it off, bring it on, or pull themselves out of one. Some occur in sleep, others while awake, some people may become unconscious during a seizure, which can cause a dangerous drop in oxygen levels. Some last momentarily, whilst others last for longer. If you have two or more seizures more than 24 hours apart, this is considered to be epilepsy until proven otherwise. Any seizure which lasts longer than five minutes is a medical emergency and needs immediate medical attention. Medications are used to help control the symptoms as best as possible.

Nosebleeds are also known by their medical name epistaxis and are extremely common. In most cases, nosebleeds are not concerning and tend to stop on their own within a couple of minutes or with the help of self-administered first aid. The majority of nosebleeds are caused by damage to the lining of the inside of the nose due to picking it or minor damage when you blow your nose. Other causes of a nosebleed include suffering trauma to the nose or head, high blood pressure, poor blood clotting (this can be due to medication or medical conditions), or pregnancy where changes of hormones lead to increased blood flow in your nose and an increased chance of getting a nosebleed. Nosebleeds are also more common in young children and the elderly due to the lining of the nose being more fragile.

If you have a kidney stone stuck, you are likely to know about it. The stones are solid lumps, often with a high calcium content (think limescale clumps). They cause no problems when small or sitting in the kidney. But they cause excruciating pain if they get stuck moving from one of your kidneys, down a tube called the ureter, to your bladder. Most people describe the pain as coming in sharp or cramping waves, causing them to double over until the spasm passes after a few seconds or minutes. This is when your ureter is blocked but this muscular tube is trying to force the stone down by squeezing. You'll feel this from one side of your lower back, round to the front lower part of the abdomen. It sometimes radiates to the vagina, testicle or tip of the penis. This is called loin-to-groin pain. Stones then have to move from the bladder via another tube, the urethra, and out in your urine. This may correspond to more painful spasms as the urethra contracts.

Generalised seizures are a common type of seizure in which abnormal electrical impulses affect the whole brain, temporarily preventing it from carrying out its usual function. These are different from another type of seizure known as focal (or partial) seizures, where only a part of the brain is affected. Symptoms of general seizures can vary, and may cause someone to lose consciousness, their bodies and limbs may become rigid and they may have jerking movements. Afterwards, they may feel very sleepy and take some time to regain their full level of consciousness. Epilepsy is the most common condition causing seizures and fits – around 1 in 100 people in the UK has it - and is diagnosed if you suffer persistent seizures and are likely to continue getting seizures. Anti-epileptic medication is available to reduce the chance of future seizures. There are 6 main types of generalised seizures; Absences. These mainly affect children (but can occur in adults) and cause the person to become unaware of their surroundings, sometimes looking as if they are staring into space or daydreaming. This typically lasts for 10-15 seconds and afterwards they have no memory of the event, which can happen several times a day. This means that things like school performance and tasks such as crossing the road can be affected. Myoclonic seizures. This type of seizure often happens in the hours after waking and causes the body and limbs to twitch for a few seconds. You remain awake the whole time if this occurs. Clonic seizures. The symptoms here are the same as with myoclonic seizures, but they last longer – for a minute or two – and you can lose consciousness with this type of seizure. Atonic seizures. These are sudden and cause all the body muscles to instantly relax, meaning you can fall to the ground without warning. Tonic seizures. In this type, unlike with atonic seizures, all the muscles of the body suddenly become very stiff. This means you can also fall to the ground suddenly as a result of losing your balance. Tonic-clonic seizures. This is the type of seizure that most people would call ‘an epileptic fit’ and has two stages. First, the body becomes very stiff, and this is followed by generalised twitching of the arms and legs, sometimes with incontinence of urine (wetting yourself). It causes you to become unconscious, and usually lasts a minute but sometimes longer. People may have warning signs that a seizure is about to happen, and this is called an aura. This is because abnormal electrical activities can start in one part of the brain before spreading to the whole brain. If seizures last longer than 5 minutes this is a medical emergency and you need to call 999 for urgent medical attention. If this is a first seizure for someone, they should also get an ambulance to hospital urgently.

A febrile seizure (sometimes called a febrile convulsion or febrile fit) happens when some babies and toddlers have a high temperature (fever). It can be alarming and scary to see, but it's usually harmless, and most children make a complete recovery. It’s best to get your child checked out the first time this happens, so take them to the nearest hospital or call an ambulance if your child is having a seizure. Children aged between 6 months and 3 years are most commonly affected, and around 5% of children have a febrile seizure before the age of 6. It doesn’t affect every child, but once they’ve one febrile convulsion, they have a higher chance of having a seizure with the next feverish illness – the chance is about 1 in 3. They are rare under the age of 3 months and after the age of 6.

A faint means a momentary loss of consciousness and is often referred to as a blackout. Doctors sometimes call it syncope or a vasovagal attack, and it’s very common, affecting up to 40% of people at least once in their lives. It usually first happens before the age of 40 (usually in the teens) and typically doesn’t have a serious cause although if it occurs for the first time after middle-age it can be a sign of an underlying health problem.