This type of headache occurs in people over 55 years of age, but most of them are over 65 years of age. Men are more affected than women. There is a temporal artery on 2 sides of the skull. The cause of inflammation of these blood vessels is a headache.
The headache is on one side and the pain is very severe. The pain starts suddenly and is constant after onset but is worse at night. The patient has difficulty opening his mouth and slowly cannot open his mouth at once. It can be difficult to see in the eyes and can even become blind. Once blind the chances of recovery are slim. The patient may have a fever and lose weight. The blood vessels on the side of the head become swollen and very painful when touched.
If this disease is suspected, blood tests show elevated blood ESR, elevated white blood cells, and elevated CRP. A temporal artery biopsy can confirm the disease. CT scan is normal. The main medicine for this disease is Steroid medicine such as Prednisolone. It is given to eat 40-60 mg per day. After a few weeks, it is gradually reduced to 10 mg for a year. The miracle of the treatment is that the headache subsides within two days of giving this medicine and CRP and ESR return to normal within a few days. It should be noted here that delay in treatment can result in blindness for life.
