I have had pretty much constant headaches for two weeks now and I guessed it was sinusitis to begin with as it’s mainly a frontal and facial headache. I went to see a ENT doctor but he checked me out and said my sinuses are fine. Given my schedule, it’s highly unlikely that it’s stress. Anyone got any other ideas? Is it worth going to one of the big hospitals in Taipei to check it out?
You know the sun here is much more direct than it is in most other places. Even on cloudy days it can be very harsh. Maybe try wearing a bareball cap and sunglasses for a few days and seeing if this helps. If not, maybe you should try to get a massage. Sometimes (even if not stressed) the shoulders can start to cause headaches.
Also check your sugar levels. Are you eating more or less than usual?
Also try to pay a lot of attention to how you are holding your jaw. If you have been gritting it or eating more chewy foods, it can actually just be from that. If you have a strong jaw, you will get pains in other areas of the face before you get them in the jaw area.
Sorry if I sound like a knowitall. I have done lots of research and been to MANY doctors (and a few seminars) on how to control headaches. Unfortunately, I discovered the only way to control my own is to drink 4 cups of coffee every minute. 
I hear you about the sun. Some of us are more sensitive to sunlight. If I don’t wear my sunglasses, even on overcast days, I get medium grade migraines.
Also make sure you are drinking enough liquids… As the weather gets warmer it is possible to get dehidrated because of excessive sweating. You need to increase how much you drink as the temp rises.
Getting into a semi-dehidrated state can easily lead to daily headaches.
Mugatu,
I do not have any answers for you and I do not mean to turn this topic around, I hope you have found answers and are recovering.
I flew to Hong Kong today and had a severe, sudden pain above my right eye. I am suffering from this severe pain all around my eye now along with some pressure in my ear. (I think something ruptured)
I have thought about going to an emergency room, but I do not know who to trust or where to go.
Best Regards,
ucxb
Another thing to consider - do you work constantly under fluorescent lighting? 'cause that does it to me every time - anything more than a couple of hours at a time under fluorescents and I’m damn near crippled by headaches.
There are so many triggers as mentioned already. Another one is if your not running a flat panel, check is if your computer screen is running at 85khz or above. Be careful, this can kill video cards and screens but is also a good excuse to upgrade to a flat panel.
I also find I sometimes get headaches at the beginning of summer. My theory is that it is to do with the ever present air conditioning here and the constant change from hot to cold.
Just a theory though…
teggs
I have realised the cause of my headaches and it was as i suspected sinusistus. (Why the doctor told me three times that my sinuses were fine I don’t know)
I have a displaced nasal septum, which apparently is quite common and I am only noticing the effects now because of the humidity and pollution in Taiwan.
Anyway, they gave me a nasal spray and it’s all fine now.
I’ve now had a headache for two weeks. I can feel it in the morning when I wake up, and it builds through the day, till my head is cracking in the evening.
It’s exhausting. My GP says I had a common cold. That was a week ago.
The Chinese doctor says I have ‘summer stroke’ (I think he means heat stroke), from moving between AC-ed rooms and the outside heat, and scraped the crap out of my neck and back. Also said I should avoid cold drinks and an assortment of foods. That was five days ago.
Still have the headache, and no idea what to do about it. Gets kinda exhausting when you consign yourself to another day of headaches, like it’s something that’s part and parcel of normal life.
I used Ibuprofen for the first five days, but I’m reluctant to use medication daily.
What to do? Where to go? Are there headaches specialists in Taichung? (I remember see a ‘Headache Clinic’ back home in SA)
lots of water, salt and potassium and B1. That should do it. 
[quote=“Mugatu”]I have realised the cause of my headaches and it was as i suspected sinusistus. (Why the doctor told me three times that my sinuses were fine I don’t know)
I have a displaced nasal septum, which apparently is quite common and I am only noticing the effects now because of the humidity and pollution in Taiwan.
Anyway, they gave me a nasal spray and it’s all fine now.[/quote]
This, as you can see, is an image of a deviated nasal septum. In and of itself it will not cause you any problems. Many people are born this way, some through traumatic injury will acquire a deviation in their septum. The septum is the thing that divides your nose into left and right. If the deviation is severe enough it can push the turbinates into the area that drains the sinuses (turbinates are those tear drop shaped things hanging down). This schematic shows the septum actually doing this. If you add a little swelling either due to a viral cold or allergies to pollen (or something) then the passage to the sinuses are obstructed, and unable to drain mucus (sinuses constantly produce mucus, that you swallow down the back of your throat, about a quart a day). If mucus is trapped the bacteria that are only present in numbers that don’t cause infection begin to multiple, and then cause an infection.
A nasal spray like Flonase, Nasacort, Rhinocort, Astelin and the like treat allergies - they reduce your response to allergens - or reduce swelling - thereby allowing your sinuses to breathe and drain properly.
Not all facial headaches, however, are attributible to the sinuses. Tension in the neck or the TMJ (jaw joint) can cause HA. Other causes:
Stress (anxiety, worry, emotional depression)
Bright light: artificial or sunlight
Prolonged focusing on screens: TV, computer
Foods: red wine, aged or strong cheese, pickled foods, MSG, cured meats
Low blood sugar from not eating
Hormone fluctuations
Dental disease
High blood pressure
Alcohol: hangovers from other substances
Overuse of common over the counter headache pills like Advil, Anacin, etc.
Barometric changes
and lots o stuff
Bodo
[quote=“Dirt Merchant”]I’ve now had a headache for two weeks. I can feel it in the morning when I wake up, and it builds through the day, till my head is cracking in the evening.
It’s exhausting. My GP says I had a common cold. That was a week ago.
The Chinese doctor says I have ‘summer stroke’ (I think he means heat stroke), from moving between AC-ed rooms and the outside heat, and scraped the crap out of my neck and back. Also said I should avoid cold drinks and an assortment of foods. That was five days ago.
Still have the headache, and no idea what to do about it. Gets kinda exhausting when you consign yourself to another day of headaches, like it’s something that’s part and parcel of normal life.
I used Ibuprofen for the first five days, but I’m reluctant to use medication daily.
What to do? Where to go? Are there headaches specialists in Taichung? (I remember see a ‘Headache Clinic’ back home in SA)[/quote]
Do you wear spectacles? Do you need them? Astigmatism can cause a headache that will only go away if your vision is corrected. Your eye muscles may be continually straining to focus and casuing the pain. Just a thought.
Don’t use a hair-dryer…any of you. They cause head-aches…as well as brain cancer. We all know about living to close to power lines…so what do you think a hair-dryer is? High voltage being pushed through some exposed wires…and then the hot surrounding air blown onto our head?!? Horrible.
[quote]Headache Etiologies That Mandate Referral (Headache causes that require a visit to the doctor)
The majority of adult patients with headache have tension-induced headache or migraine. However, there are warning signs of more serious etiologies that mandate immediate referral to a physician. Some of these signs are described in this month
[quote=“Dirt Merchant”]I’ve now had a headache for two weeks. I can feel it in the morning when I wake up, and it builds through the day, till my head is cracking in the evening.
It’s exhausting. My GP says I had a common cold. That was a week ago.
The Chinese doctor says I have ‘summer stroke’ (I think he means heat stroke), from moving between AC-ed rooms and the outside heat, and scraped the crap out of my neck and back. Also said I should avoid cold drinks and an assortment of foods. That was five days ago.
Still have the headache, and no idea what to do about it. Gets kinda exhausting when you consign yourself to another day of headaches, like it’s something that’s part and parcel of normal life.[/quote]
I’d be wondering about Japanese Encephalitis if you feel like your skull is splitting from internal pressure.
Various websites describe its symptoms as “flu-like” but it didn’t feel like any flu I’d ever had when I had it. IIRC, it was about ten days of pressure headaches before it finally went away. Felt worst just above the neck, and it was unpleasant to bend my neck much. (Yes, I know about meningitis. This wasn’t.)