A bad headache on its own can derail your day, making it hard to enjoy the plans you had, if not retiring to a dark room for relief. Add nausea to the mix, and what was already uncomfortable becomes downright debilitating.
Once the worst of these symptoms pass, you can start to look into what might be triggering headaches with nausea so you can prevent this from happening in the future. While these symptoms often occur together, they can stem from different sources. Sometimes the headache triggers the nausea, while other times both symptoms point to an underlying condition that needs attention.
Types of headaches that can cause nausea
Certain headache disorders are known to trigger both head pain and queasiness.
Migraine headaches
Migraine is perhaps the first disorder you’ll discover when Googling “headaches and nausea.” Unlike other headaches that come and go relatively simply, migraine involves complex neurological changes that affect multiple systems in your body. The same brain pathways that create the intense, throbbing pain in your head can also trigger nausea or even vomiting.
During a migraine episode, your brain releases chemicals that sensitize pain receptors and disrupt normal digestive function. Although no two migraine experiences are the same, the nausea often begins before the headache reaches its peak intensity and may persist even after the pain subsides.
Treating migraine often involves seeing a medical doctor for an official diagnosis and treatment plan that may involve certain medications or referrals to specialists, including physical therapy in some cases.
Cluster headaches
Cluster headaches create severe, burning pain that typically centers around one eye. These headaches occur in cyclical patterns or clusters, often striking at the same time each day for weeks or months. While nausea is a less common side effect of cluster headaches compared to migraine, these attacks can include nausea alongside their characteristic stabbing head pain.
A potential cause of cluster headache nausea is that the intense nature of the pain can overwhelm your nervous system, triggering nausea as your body responds to the extreme discomfort. Many people also experience restlessness and agitation during cluster headache episodes, which can worsen feelings of nausea.
Cervicogenic headaches
Cervicogenic headaches originate in your neck but create pain that radiates to your head. Poor posture, neck injuries, or muscle tension in your neck and shoulders can compress nerves and blood vessels, leading to head pain and other symptoms. The connection between your neck and brain involves nerve pathways that may trigger nausea when disrupted.
These headaches often develop gradually and may worsen with certain neck movements or positions. The accompanying nausea tends to be milder than what occurs with migraines but can still significantly impact your daily activities.
Conditions that cause both headaches and nausea
Sometimes headaches and nausea appear together because they’re both symptoms of the same underlying problem. Recognizing these conditions can help you address the root cause rather than just treating individual symptoms.
Mental health and emotional stress
Anxiety disorders and chronic stress create physical symptoms that extend far beyond emotional discomfort. One link between a mental health disorder like anxiety and these symptoms is that when your body remains in a heightened state of alert, the effects are felt throughout your body and are often interpreted as pain or unease.
Acute panic attacks can also include both headaches and nausea among their symptoms. The intense physical response to anxiety floods your system with stress hormones that can create head pain and upset your stomach.
Finally, on the other end of the spectrum, depression can also contribute to both symptoms, particularly when it disrupts sleep patterns and eating habits.
Dehydration/heat illness
Although the pathways for what causes dehydration headaches are not clear, many people experience head pain when dehydrated. Going one step further, heat exhaustion commonly includes headaches and nausea as symptoms along with dehydration.
Respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses
Sometimes common illnesses like the flu, sinus infections, and stomach viruses cause headaches alongside the nausea you’d expect from these illnesses.
Upper respiratory infections often put pressure on the sinuses and surrounding areas, including nerves that can trigger headaches. Meanwhile, post-nasal drip and the body’s immune response to these infections contribute to stomach upset and nausea.
These symptoms typically improve as the underlying illness resolves.
Personalized headache treatment in Kansas City
As we’ve described here, the factors that play into every potential cause of headaches and nausea are wide-ranging, and what helps you find relief depends entirely on the underlying cause of your experiences.
In some cases, medication may be the most effective approach, available after getting an official diagnosis of an underlying condition like migraine disorder. However, in other cases, a more holistic approach can be incredibly valuable.
For accessible care in understanding the root causes of your symptoms, a physical therapist might be more helpful than you’d think. Our Physical Therapists are trained to evaluate subtle signs of body mechanics to identify and treat areas that are tense as a result of stress or anxiety.
If you’ve been struggling to find a solution to chronic headaches that often come with nausea, a personalized evaluation may be a helpful step in the right direction. Learn more about how we treat headache disorders at SSOR by calling a clinic near you or by requesting an appointment online today.