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What experts know about post-COVID headaches so far
A constantly throbbing headache is enough to make your day worse, so it is even difficult to imagine being able to manage one for weeks at a stretch. But, this is the case of several COVID long-haulers, as
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several factors like their susceptibility to headaches in general, the severity of their COVID infection, and any medications that were taken to help reduce pain.
The pain level tends to vary from person to person. Individuals who have migraines can get migraine attacks due to the Coronavirus.
There still isn’t a particular cause identified as to why these headaches happen, however, experts have some theories.
One reason for these headaches, especially after the initial few days after recovery, could be due to sleep deprivation or being dehydrated from the recent infection. These can trigger headaches.
There’s also the possibility of headaches from taking high amounts of over-the-counter pain relievers, experts say. This can turn into a vicious cycle in which you might end up taking more medicines to treat the pain, only for it to get worsened.
In a recent research review published in The Journal of Headache and Pain, authors theorized that “long COVID headache” could develop in people who have a genetic predisposition to headache or migraine. This can get triggered from the “activation” of the trigeminovascular system from the virus, which plays a key role in migraine headaches.
The researchers also found that the virus can kick your immune system into overdrive, leading to persistent headaches as a result of the immune inflammation.
There is still no clear data on how often headaches can happen or persist after recovery from initial COVID infection. Currently, experts say that headaches tend to be more common during illness, and not after. The same applies for body pain in other parts of the body during the sickness.
A recent study analyzed data from 200 people who contracted Coronavirus and reported having symptoms post-infection – either four weeks from the date they received a positive test or four weeks after they were discharged from the hospital. 66.5% of these people said they still had headaches.