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What is temporal arteritis (headache at sleep)?
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Do you suffer from headaches on one or both sides of your head? Then it could be temporal arteritis, an inflammation of an artery near your temple. What are the other symptoms? And what can you do about it?
Also read: What types of headaches are there?
Temporal arteritis
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Temporal arteritis is an inflammation of an artery near your temple, usually only in one temple, but sometimes in both temples. Literally, the term means ‘inflammation of the temporal artery’. The temporal artery is a branch of the carotid artery that runs past your ear, over your temple to the top of the head.
The disease is a form of giant cell arteritis: a condition in which you develop inflammation in the large, medium and small arteries in your body. Sometimes temporal arteritis is accompanied by polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), a form of rheumatism. Temporal arteritis is easily treated with medication.
Also read: Which pain should you never ignore?
Cause
The symptoms of temporal arteritis arise because blood vessel inflammation (vasculitis) causes a narrowing of the small artery. The result is poor blood flow or blockage of the blocked artery. This reduces the blood supply to the body part or organ that is supplied with blood via that artery. This will cause you pain, and tissue will also die.
Temporal arteritis is particularly common in people over the age of fifty. The disease is more common in women than in men. It is not yet clear why the body shows an inflammatory response against its own blood vessels. Hereditary factors and the presence of previous infections may play a role.
Also read: What types of migraine are there?
Symptoms
Temporal arteritis can be recognized by various symptoms:
Headache on one or both sides of your headSensitive scalp near the templesPain in your jaws while chewingStiffness, especially in the muscles of the neck and back of the headDecreased vision, double vision, blurred vision or spots in front of the eyesFatigueDecreased appetite, weight lossMuscle pain, feverNight sweats
Also read: Headache or migraine due to too much or too little caffeine
Therapy
The internist or rheumatologist will determine whether there is temporal arteritis through blood tests and a biopsy of a small piece of artery near the temple. If this is the case, treatment will follow with a high dose of prednisone, a medication that belongs to the corticosteroid group. These substances are derived from a body’s own hormone and have an anti-inflammatory effect.
You take the tablets or capsules once a day. The complaints normally decrease after one or two weeks. At that time there will also be a drop in blood erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). You can gradually reduce the medication in consultation with your doctor.
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Last updated: October 2023
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2023-10-05 22:07:12
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