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Have Headache And Experiencing Pressure While Coughing. CT Scan Clear. Any Thoughts?

Posted on Thu, 27 Dec 2012

Question: 55 year old woman, I had a bad headcold in sept. and noticed a bad pain on my right temple side when coughing. The cold went away but I still experience pressure when I cough weeks later. I am having a lot of sinus issues as well. My major concern is a sharp pulse like pain that comes and goes over my left temple.There is some pain behind my eye as well .The pain seems to be getting sharper. I don't have any pain while sleeping. I went to an ent and they did a sinus ct scan and said they saww nothing unusual. I do have headaches sometimes but this stabbing/pulsing pain attacks are getting me down.any thoughts?

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Kumar (9 minutes later)

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query.

Most likely, it may not be anything serious. It could be a muscular pain, arising in the temporalis muscle, due to muscle tension.

However, in view of the location of pain and age more than 50, we need to exclude "temporal arteritis". A simple blood test- ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) can help in that. ESR is elevated in temporal arteritis. If diagnosis is confirmed, it responds to treatment with a short course of steroids.

I hope it helps. Please get back if you have any more queries.

Wishing you good health,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar