Go to the ER for a thunderclap headache (sudden, worst-ever, peaking within a minute), a headache after a head injury, or headache with stiff neck and fever, confusion, fainting, seizure, or stroke signs like one-sided weakness or slurred speech.
Those patterns can mean brain bleeding, meningitis, or stroke. Urgent-but-not-ambulance patterns: a headache worsening over days to weeks, one that wakes you at night, a new kind of headache after 50, headache with vision changes in pregnancy, or pain in the eye or ear. The vast majority of headaches are tension or migraine and need none of this. Pymander is a free AI doctor, 24/7 by text, and can check your headache against these patterns.
What to do
Common questions
When should you go to the ER for a headache?
Go to the ER for a headache in these patterns. One: a thunderclap headache - sudden, explosive, worst-of-your-life pain peaking within seconds to a minute - which can mean bleeding around the brain. Two: any headache after a blow to the head, especially with drowsiness, vomiting, or confusion. Three: headache paired with a stiff neck, fever, confusion, fainting, or a seizure, which raises meningitis. Four: headache with stroke signs - weakness or numbness on one side, slurred speech, vision loss, trouble walking. Five: a headache that keeps worsening over days to weeks, wakes you from sleep, or is new and different after 50 - those need urgent, if not always emergency, evaluation. Also urgent: headache with vision changes in pregnancy, and headache with pain in the eye or ear. The huge majority of headaches are tension or migraine and need none of this. Pymander is a free AI doctor, 24/7 by text, that can help you check your headache against these exact patterns.