The Daily Mail, 4 December 2017
The Daily Mail published an article on 4 December 2017 on different types of headaches and how to treat them. Our Clinical Adviser, Daniel Hardiman-McCartney offered the following advice:
“Pain at the back of the head often occurs in people in their late 30s and early 40s and is a sign their eyes are struggling to see objects close-up as part of the ageing process”, says Daniel Hardiman-McCartney, clinical adviser at the College of Optometrists. “The back of the head is where the occipital lobe, the part of the brain involved with vision, is located.”
“Pain around the forehead tends to be caused when the eyes are not perfectly aligned — the muscles around the eye and forehead then strain to cause alignment, leading to pain. This often strikes teenagers when studying intensively or those who start using a screen more, as the eyes are unprepared for intensive reading and screen use.”
“GPs often refer people with headaches to an optometrist to rule out vision problems. They are a good first port of call”, says Daniel Hardiman-McCartney. “Optometrists can pick up more serious causes, such as raised pressure around the brain, by studying the back of the eye, and give advice on keeping a headache diary, so that when you go to your GP you have all the information they need to hand.”
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