My scalp hurts especially when I breath through my nose what can it be?

[Lena8591]

Hi all,

I've been experiencing this pain since last november.

Already been to ENT specialist (she have found only deviated septum), brain and face MRI (nothing showed up), neurologyst and dermatologyst oh and also visited my GP more than twice because of this.

It is driving me crazy!

It is almost like a burning sensation on the left top of my head and also feels bruised when I touch it. I sometimes also experience pain in my left ear, spasm in my left eye and have a tooth also on the left side which wont settle (my dentist did a root canal on it but pain is still there).

My neurologyst thinks it can be occipital neuralgia but it worsens when I breath through my nose and it is not typical to that... my gp prescribed me amytriptyline in January and after two weeks on it the pain subsided! I could barely feel it and it had been very good for 3 months. I quit amytriptyline as soon as I experienced recovery in February.

And now its back :((( Again soreness, feels like a giant bruise on my scalp but there is nothing there!
I always breathe in through my mouth now because I can feel less in this way...

Please please someone advice me where to go next!
Spine MRI maybe? Chriopactor?? I am desperate.

[cracray72]

Hi there.  I'm so sorry for your suffering.  I have worked in the dental field for many years and have come across patients that have severe pain and think it is a tooth problem.  I met a patient who had 6 root canals and two extractions to try to relieve the pain. He then went to a Neurologist and was told all looked fine.  He found a support group and learned of a condition called Trigeminal neuralgia.  He found a different Neurologist that specialized in this condition ( I believe in San Antonio, TX). The doctor did extensive testing and he did indeed have TN.  He had surgery and immediately had relief of the unbearable pain he was in.  I just wanted to share this as this poor man had unnecessary dental treatment from dentists who never should've performed them.

[Rainy320]

Hello,  I am going to be blunt.   I have been in the medical field for almost 25 years.  You NEED an MRI, asap.  You need to DEMAND one.   If your medical insurance offers "patient care assistance" use it!  The term I just used may be called something else according to your carrier.  Call the number on the back of your card for assistance, no need to tell the first  person you speak with about your medical complaints.  Ask to speak to someone in the correct department, which is normally an RN.  Under the program the nurse will step in and ADVOCATE for you, and attempt to help you manage your care TOGETHER.  If you don't get a positive response (there are plenty of medical personnel who just DO NOT have good "bedside manners" or are working for the money and not to actually care about patient outcomes.)  Developing, on both your part and the nurse's, a good rapport would be wonderful, trust is key.  If you have a psychiatrist that you work with they may also agree to give you an order for the MRI.  However, in the event that you receive the order it will have to be preauthorized by your insurance in order for them to pay for it.  The ordering doctor (usually their staff) are responsible to obtain this authorization for you.   You can also contact your care advocate to discuss, where you go from here.  


In the event that your symptoms are completely out control/unbearable,  go to the ER!  You should receive a FULL workup, including laboratory testing and you will most likely be given in at least a CT while you are there.  Give the MD your medical history, it helps for you to type it out and keep it with you.  I am unable to recall whether or not I have read on a threat somewhere that you have experienced seizures, or any sort of head trauma, whether resent of in the past.  Do not forget family history, specifically cancer/tumors.  


As your own advocate go to your insurance provider's website and research for your self what is covered and/or what is needed to be successful at obtaining the preauthorization. Don't forget to research their program regarding the patient care assistance.   Another issue you should consider is a change of providers.  You know your own body, you sense when something is just not right.  You deserve answers and a proper and thorough examination and treatment plan.   You can also research your medications.  Look for possible side effects due to possible interactions between two or more medications.  They may not be compatible or may even cancel out one or both.  For example; taking Dilantin and birth control pills, will result in the Dilantin making the birth control ineffective.  This is a fact.  


I wish you all of the best, and hope that you are successful and experience relief (first and foremost) and are blessed with caring, compassion, and empathetic providers.  

[Rainy320]

Where is the edit button?  I just noticed  several grammar mistakes, I hope none of them confused you!

[Paxiled]

I think she mentioned she did have an MRI.

[shastad2]

It may be a sinusitis or inflammation of the sinus.  Try taking Benadryl (an antihistamine).

[Lena8591]

HI everyone. My tooth is ok now but I still have the same pain :(
I can not live with this much longer it makes me crazy :(

[specialmom]

That sounds so miserable. Sorry you are in pain.  Have you gone back to your care provider to discuss it?  

[Paxiled]

And did you ever see a specialist who has a CT scan?  Once a nerve gets inflamed, it sometimes stays inflamed for a long time.  Again, no idea if this is the cause.  I have a tooth that had a "successful" root canal a few years ago.  But the tooth had gotten so bad because my lousy dentist (a good dentist gone bad) didn't fill it properly or notice it soon enough, the nerve hurt all the time for over a year despite nothing looking wrong.  It still hurts years later a bit, but it has gone down enough that I don't notice it anymore most of the time.  But at least I knew the source of the problem.  

[Paxiled]

Also, I had lingering pain from an extraction of an infected cracked tooth that lasted for a very long time as well.  My oral surgeon wouldn't do implants on me because of this.  My dentist decided to try to supply some pressure as if there was something to push on by making me a thick mouth guard for when I exercised, when I was still able to exercise.  The pain dissipated to only occurring once in awhile.  It's amazing the difference between competent medical professionals and incompetent ones.

[Lena8591]

I had brain MRI without contrast.
I mention this every time when I visit my GP but he always suggest amytriptyline which was ok but I dont want to live on drugs and also this doesnt solve the problem.

[Lena8591]

Oh and it is related to anxiety topic because a lot of people said that it is linked to stress/depression (the burning head).
But I highly doubt it as it is in one spot ALL the time and worsens when I BREATH through my nose how can that be stress related?? :( Also my only worry nowadays is this strange headache!

[Paxiled]

Well, an antidepressant made it better, so there's that.  It's also a very sedating drug, so you might have slept better.  The nerve diagnosis is because of the root canal, so if it arose around the time the root canal problem arose that may be your most likely culprit -- the nerve may be taking a very long time to stop hurting, kind of like phantom nerve pain assuming the root canal was successful.  How bad was the root canal, meaning how severe was the pain before you got it?  

[Lena8591]

Thanks for your reply!
This headache first occured in 17' november and my tooth started to ache this april so when the nerve diagnosis was done I didnt have any tooth issues.
Also my dentsit didn't want to to the root canal because everything around the totth (and on xray) seemed fine but I insisted. She was right because my pain never left despite of the root canal. :(
I can feel the pain constantly but I can trigger it by pushing my left side of my nose with my fingers. I can not imagine how can a pain from my nose area radiat to the top left of my head :(

[Lena8591]

Sorry I meant I can trigger my pain on my head by pushing my nose (not my toothpain).

[Paxiled]

I'm a bit confused -- did you have a root canal done by a regular dentist and not by an endodontist?  And they did a root canal despite there being no perceived damage to the root?  I've had a lot of dental problems, and that's just odd.  But here's the thing about nerve pain, if it is that, and I have no idea if it is -- if you had an infected tooth and a damaged nerve, then yes, you could have been feeling it for a long time before it got to the point where a dental professional could tell what the problem was.  They're not necessarily able to diagnose a problem until it's gotten really really bad and they can isolate it.  Been there, done that, too many times and too many pulled teeth later.  If the nerve wasn't dead, you didn't need a root canal, so again, I'm a bit confused as to why a dentist who didn't see a cause for one did it because you wanted her to.  Odd.  I hope you don't ever feel like you need a leg cut off.  The area you're describing is where the sinus is, and an inflamed sinus can also cause tooth pain.  It can be just allergies or a lot of things.  Usually, though, sinus pain goes away without treatment, but we're all different.  You need professional help, I think, not a bunch of amateurs who suffer from anxiety.  Good luck.  Sometimes problems are very hard to find the cause of.  

[Lena8591]

Hi thanks so much again for tring to help me.
In my country there is no much difference between a regular dentist and an endodontist:) Regular dentists  do root canals.. anyway i booked an appointment for a microscopic root canal trreatment because they say thats better..
I dont think much about my tooth anyway my head pain disturbs me more because with every breath i feel like air goes up from my nose to the top of my head (where my scalp burns and aches).
Even though they did an mri on my brain i am freaking out that it is some kind of an aneurysm or something like that.
But basically you say that i should sort out my tooth problem first..?

[Lena8591]

Oh and yeah i said that i have pain in that exact tooth so they did the root canal altough there was nothing on xray

[Paxiled]

I don't know which country you're in.  In the US, where I live, dentists do root canals, they do implants, they do everything -- they're allowed to do it all.  But that's not necessarily the best place to get those things done.  Endodontists pretty much only treat root canal and cracked teeth problems -- things associated with the nerve -- and a regular x-ray often doesn't show whether you need a root canal or not.  God, I've been through this so much I could teach a class in it, I've had 8 or 9 root canals at this point because of bad teeth and a bad dentist I didn't know was a bad dentist.  The main test for whether it's a root canal problem or not is the good old heat test -- if it hurts to cold, the nerve is still alive and if it hurts to heat, the nerve is probably dead and you need a root canal.  Unless your dentist has the most modern x-ray equipment, they can't see things like bone deterioration that can also cause tooth pain and can indicate a lingering infection or a crack.  Endodontists can afford this equipment because they make so much money, and they also usually have a CT scan in their office that sees even better.  I'm guessing there are specialists where you live, because the average dentist just can't afford this equipment.  But you gotta do what you gotta do, I'm just trying to say that tooth pain travels.  Root canals are needed because of infection and cracks, and the pain from those things can travel all over the darned place.  That's why it's so hard to locate the exact nature of the problem -- it's often hard to tell the dentist exactly where it hurts sometimes.  Here, that's when they send you to the endodontist or a periodontist (gum specialist) who has better diagnostic equipment.  Again, don't know where you live but if you don't have specialists, that's unfortunate -- the more procedures of a certain type any surgeon does, the better at it they get.  I hope this resolves, but I have no idea if the tooth is the problem or not, only that it is possible that it is.  It's also possible it's something pretty simple such as an inflamed sinus possibly from taking too many antibiotics at some point in your life, which can also cause a tooth or teeth to hurt because of that darned nerve that is in that area of the body.  Best of luck.