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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
Primary cough headaches
The cause of primary cough headaches isn't known, though some researchers suspect that increased pressure in the head (intracranial pressure) caused by coughing and other types of straining may play a role.
Secondary cough headaches
The cause of secondary cough headaches can almost always be traced to a problem in the back of the brain or at the base of the skull, where the brain and spinal cord connect, such as:
- A defect in the shape of the skull.
- A defect in the configuration of the cerebellum, which can result in a portion of the brain being forced through the opening at the base of the skull (foramen magnum), where only the spinal cord should go. Some of these types of defects are called Chiari malformations.
- A brain tumor.
- Cutrer FM. Primary cough headache. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 5, 2009.
- Pasqual J. Other primary headaches. Neurologic Clinics. 2009;27:557.
- Chiari malformation fact sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/chiari/detail_chiari.htm. Accessed Dec. 6, 2009.
- Headache: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/headache/detail_headache.htm#142883138. Accessed Dec. 7, 2009.
- Bartleson JD (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 30, 2009.
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