7 Warning Signs Of A Brain Aneurysm That Can Save Your Life
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One of the secret and silent killers you need to worry about is the brain aneurysm, a bulge in a blood vessel in the brain. Nearly 500,000 people die of brain aneurysms every year. Half of those victims are under age 50, so this is something that can affect everybody regardless of age.
But as with most frightening medical conditions, your best defense is to understand what the warning signs are and to take yourself to the doctor as soon as you detect these signs.
Here are the warning signs of a brain aneurysm to look out for.
Intense headaches
One of the major warning signs of a brain aneurysm is getting headaches. But we’re not talking about any old headache here. These will be the worst headaches you have ever experienced in your life!
What causes this intense pain? The majority of aneurysms take place in a small area outside your brain known as the subarachnoid. When the aneurysm ruptures or otherwise leaks, it releases blood into that area, causing a pressure change that results in headaches much worse than the average.
The pain is even worse because of all the nerve endings in the area. If you are experiencing such pain, seek medical assistance immediately!
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Horribly stiff neck
After an aneurysm ruptures, it can have certain effects on your body. And one of the major effects is that you have a very stiff neck!
The reason for this is that there are nerves near your brain stem that help control the movement of your neck. When those nerves are affected, it is going to cause your neck to feel very stiff.
How can you tell if this is a warning sign or just a sign that you slept funny, though? As with the headaches, this neck stiffness is likely to be worse than any neck stiffness you have previously encountered.
Vomiting and general nausea
Remember when we talked about how blood rushing in could cause pressure changes and pain? It can also change the position of your brain, and this leads to further negative effects, including vomiting and nausea.
Eventually, this can push your brain to the same area where your brain stem and spinal cord begin. And because your brain stem affects both your breathing and digestion, this can cause vomiting as well as dizziness and a general sense of nausea.
Now, don’t freak out simply because you occasionally throw up or feel sick. But if there is no other explanation for how you feel, then a brain aneurysm may be the culprit.
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Double vision or blurred vision
As you might imagine, changing pressure on your brain stem can also lead to other physiological effects. And that includes negative effects on the area that controls your sense of vision.
This can cause unexpected changes in your vision. Such changes may include blurred vision, double vision, and an increased sensitivity towards light.
Now, light sensitivity can have its own causes. In fact, many suffer from light-induced migraines. But if there is no other explanation for your change in vision, you should consider this a warning sign of a brain aneurysm.
Tingling face and unexpected facial expressions
Some of the warning signs of a brain aneurysm are more obvious than others. In fact, one of them may be staring back at you when you look into the mirror!
Among many other things, your brain stem also affects your cranial nerves. When these nerves get pushed, it can have some unexpected effects on your face. In some cases, these effects may manifest as a tingling sensation in your face that you can’t explain.
In other cases, the effects may manifest as mild facial paralysis, causing some of your features to droop. Basically, if you’re having trouble recognizing the face in the mirror, you need to go to the doctor right away. Even if it’s not an aneurysm, it may very well be a stroke!
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Hearing a ‘popping’ noise
Obviously, it’s best to detect the warning signs of a brain aneurysm as soon as possible. But what if you could detect an aneurysm at the exact moment that it was happening?
While science hasn’t been able to completely verify this, some aneurysm survivors recall hearing a kind of “popping” noise right before they experience an intense headache. In retrospect, many of them believe they are hearing the aneurysm rupture and the subsequent release of pressure.
So don’t dismiss a weird popping sound if you hear it. Going to the doctor right away may help you get immediate treatment for an aneurysm!
Unexpected seizures
One of the most frustrating things about brain aneurysms is that not everybody experiences the same effects in the same time frame. For example, when an aneurysm escalates very quickly, it can cause you to experience a sudden seizure.
Unless you experience seizures regularly (due to a condition such as epilepsy), you should treat this seriously and seek medical assistance immediately.
