Chronic headache pain is a leading cause of missed time from work and reduced quality of life. For many headache pain sufferers, the complications associated with chronic headaches may be attributed to a neurological condition. For some, however, the recurring presence of headaches may be associated with complications of the lymph nodes, know as lymphadenitis.

If you suffer from chronic headache pain, it is important to ask your doctor to evaluate the health of your lymph nodes and determine if there are possible swellings of the lymph nodes - a condition known as lymphadenitis. Because this swelling is associated, most often, with a bacterial or viral infection, identifying the presence of lymphadenitis can assist in finding the underlying complication that may be causing your chronic headache pain.

To diagnose a lymphadenitis complication, your doctor will simply conduct a physical examination often pressing in and around your neck and chin.

Because the lymph nodes will swell up, due to inflammation and presence of excess lymph fluid, this is the first visible sign of a lymph node complication.

With recurring headaches, the complication is often mistaken as a neurological issue and medications are prescribed in response to this misdiagnosis. If you have a long standing bacterial or viral infection, however, and the symptoms of that infection are not readily apparent you may only suffer from a headache. To properly determine if an infection is a possible cause for your headache pain, lymphadenitis should be confirmed or ruled out.

As a matter of normal physician evaluation, many doctors evaluate a patient’s lymph nodes to determine if treatment is appropriate. There are some doctors, however, that may fail to properly check for lymphadenitis and, ultimately, your headaches will continue without proper treatment. When suffering from chronic and recurring headache pain, therefore, be sure your doctor is making this proper evaluation and is supplying treatment for lymphadenitis if needed. When no sign of lymph node inflammation is present, then you should consult with a neurologist to determine if your recurring headache complication is, indeed, related to a neurological complication for which additional treatment may be required.

Sources: The Gale Encyclopedia of Children’s Health, pp. 1071-1073.