Sensitive/Painful to touch skin on my right temple.
 

I am a 28 year old, caucasian, male who's had sensitive skin to the touch on my right temple on my head for the past 1-2 months.

Vocation: Optometrist
Medical history: Unremarkable
Eye-related history: Unremarkable.
Headache history: NONE

It only hurts when I graze it it softly or rub moderately. Increased pressure from my fingers does not necessarily mean an increase in pain or sensitivity. On gross observation it looks as normal as the other temple on the left side. No lumps or anything. I do not get headaches, excluding an occasion tension headache that will radiate from the right side of my neck to the right side of the head (probably a tension related) lasting 2-3 seconds. This feels different though. When I'm not touching it I don't feel it, when I fun my fingers over my right temple I feel it. Does this sound like anything I should be concerned about?:confused: Doctors out there--quality imput would be appreciative.

By any chance could you have some trigger points?

see the Temporal Headache section here-
http://triggerpoints.net/_sgg/m1m1_1.htm

another site that tells about it
http://www.triggerpointbook.com/referred.htm

I have it too
 

I have the same exact thing..Im 40 and a mechanic for the NYPD, Myne is on the left side just above my temple. I only noticed it when I removed my hat the other day and it grazed my temple. It went away for afew days and I I atributed it to too much computer time and eye strain, But its back and Im getting alittle nervous.. Please contact me if you find out somthing, and I will do the same..Thanks Lou V

Hum... I can think about inflammation of the hair follicles... The skin hurts, not precisly the... hum... brain skull... Is that more or less what you feel ??? You know, it is not precisly a headache...

If you feel that what hurts is the skin of your head, perhaps you should see a dermatologist ;)
It can be due to stress, some corticosteroids will help.

Thanks I will look into that. I will be seeing my doctor on wed.I even thought it could be vascular pain because, Today when I got up this morning I felt it without touching it ( I think just by exerting to get up plus blood pressure change). I have a familly history of varacose veins and Im starting to have a small one or two in my legs. ( I even have a similar pain when I push on my left thigh but much deeper) Im not shure what it is but I hope to get to the bottom of it..its not that its really bad ,,,but its just really annoying...

If your skin hurts, it sounds to me like nerve pain..... in particular, sensory nerve pain.

I don't have the answers that you seek, but neuritis of any form needs investigation. If after all the usual tests have been done, you're not getting any on-going assistance from your GP, ask for a referral to a neurologist.

I have something very similar. It SEEMS to be vascular in that I can almost trace the vessels, and it is on both sides of my head. However, it is often on one side more than the other.

Do you sleep on your side, perhaps with your head on something hard (like your hand?). Another possibility is that you grind/clench your teeth while sleeping. I find that if I use my mouthguard (on my upper teeth) and sleep on my back, I don't get the tenderness.

Let me know if you find out anything!

Has anyone found out what the problem is? I have the EXACT same symptoms as you guys and it has been going on for 3 weeks now. It only hurts when i gently touch my temple and if i press down hard it doesnt hurt at all. It seems to get worse during the day. When i wake up it is almost non-existent. But as the day progresses if i lightly touch my temple i get a dull pain and when i let go the pain goes away. I am thinking it may be TMJ, tension headache or a sinus infection because recently my teeth feel a bit off. Like they are tired from grinding or something. Any results from those who have had this would be greatly appreciated.

I have had shingles before, look it up if you dont know what that is. Its VERY painful and it is related to nerves endings from what I remember. Anyway it went up the left side of my face and temple and scalp only, a rash hurt real bad and left a scar. I didnt know at the time but VALTREX will most of the time heal you from shingles as it did me. That was 5 years ago, last year that same area started hurting just exactly as all of you are talking about. I had a bottle of VALTREX on hand took it it went away. Now July 2009 the right side of my temple skin is hurting to the touch, nothing visiable very sensitive ect. Im about to start VALTREX again. I recieved shingles 5 years ago due to a very stressful transition in my life. My body was reacting by cause my nerve ending to create a very painful and ugly rash, its stems from the faimly of cold sores, chicken pocks as a kid things like that. I am under the same amount of stress ringht now, are you. Thats what brought mine on, STRESS. Cold sores are a form of herpese (no not sexual diseases) well VALTREX is a herpeses medication. Which alarmed me, but my Doctor assured me its not the same thing and I didnt contract a sexual disease. So u may have the onset of SHINKLES.....

Hey CW,

Just wanted to say that I have the exact same thing. NOt exactly shingles but an HSV1 infection (never had a true cold sore). But the virus lives in your trigeminal nerves which have 3 branches and one goes to the forehead and side of face. The virus acts up and a rash similar to shingles up the side of my head and boy does the skin hurt to the touch.

So Utah Chris you might want to ask your doc for a HSV! and varicella zoster IGM and IGG antibodies test. If its positive the valtrex will help.

nerve pain from irritation causes this hypervigilance of pain signals. in older people, with pain along vessels, one should consider ESR check for temporal arteritis. in younger patients, it's benign and a nuisance at best. sometimes, wearing helmets or headgear can cause this...meralgia paresthetica anyone? using lidocaine crea, on your temple should help--just keep it away from your eyes. (not that it would hurt, but it could cause you to scratch your eye but not feeling it)

Just thought i would come back to the forum and post my results. About a week after I posted I was at work and all of a sudden i felt a rush of fluid down my throat and in my nose. My sinuses had drained. Then, no matter what i tried, i couldn't bring that pain back to my temple. A few days later the pain was back a little, and then the same thing happened. My sinuses drained and no more pain. So for most of you, a sinus infection is probably the culprit. If you are worrying about it get it checked out by a doctor or dentist and they can tell you. No temporal arteritis, no TMJ, no tension headache, no cancer, no HSV1, just a simple sinus infection.

I have it too -- though right on top of my head
 

Its the oddest thing -- a very dull pain when not touched, no to little pain when I press firmly anywhere on the top of my head, but quite painful when I very delicately touch or stroke my head. This thread was helpful -- I'm thinking that perhaps stress (lot of that) or perhaps the sinus infection (I was recently exposed to a sniffles bug my kids got -- perhaps an odd complication w/that). I will pursue those angles and report back if anything noteworthy comes out of it.

Hello all. I have developed a headache and sensitivity similiar to what's been discussed for the past month. Sometimes it's more painful than others, such as when I sleep on that particular side. I greatly aggravated my rotator cuff tear about the time the headaches started. I also was working in my garage off and on this summer and Lord knows the stuff that gets into your nostrils. Lastly, I bumped my head on a lit light bulb in my cramped garage attic, breaking it. Didn't feel any shock but did detect a slight odor of burnt hair. This occured about the same time as my headaches started as well. I was diagnosed<sp> with shingles a few years ago, but my only symptom then was a rash on my back, which I thought were multiple bug bites. All thoughts are greatly appreciated.

temple pain
 

i am a 56 year old female and am experiencing these same symptoms...long story short, been to MD., ENT., facial pain dentist, regular dentist..had a CT. MRI , tested for temporal aritis, lupas, rhuemetoid and numerous other auto immune...had cortisone shot in temple, tried anti seizure drugs, muscle relaxers, and xanax at bedtime, because i might be really clenching my jaws, wear a night guard, been tested for TMj , stilll no answers and still have pain. Again, mostly when i graze it with my glasses, put makeup on, or wrap a towel around head after a shower, i avoid sleeping on my right side when it is really tender.....the shingles idea is an interesting option, never had them that i know of, but if chicken pox could be cuprit, had those.....looking at going to a neurologist next....any answers out there???

so pretty much diagnosed myself, partly thanks to the information on this foum,,,i am taken valtrex now, and pain seems tobe a bit better after just a couple days...hope this is the answer!!

Just a thought, could it be Allodynia: Pain from stimuli which are not normally painful?

I have chronic migraines and experience this frequently in different parts of my head, but occasionally one temple or the other. It usually is located either at the very top of my head or the crown. My hair hurts. Ice seems to provide the most relief for me.

Hey there Utah Chris, i'm new to this site so I'm not sure if i'm replying correctly... I was wondering if anything ever came of your condition. I have the exact same thing and i've just been trying to ignore it hoping it would go away but it has been about 2 months now and i'm getting a little worried because I've been feeling a lot of pressure which is totally new and have been having slight dizzy spells...Just wondering if you ever came across any answers to your problem. Thanks!

Hi guys, I read this post and a certain illness is jumping out at me and that is giant cell arteritis. Someone said in a post 'I think it's vascular' and I believe that's right. I have a form of vasculitis and suffer extreme headache, fatigue, blurred vision, neuro symptoms. A lot of different problems. Also my skin on my scalp and elsewhere is infused with a sort of neuralgia pain. It is exhausting. http://arteritis I am sorry if this didn't post correctly. I'm new to using iPad so not very good with it. But if it hasn't worked please google the topic.....lotsa stuff online about it but I think it's a strong candidate.

Same subsurface temporal pain, only when touched or flexing scalp
 

I'm glad you all have posted this here. I have been having this mystery pain (just under surface of skin in left temporal area, centered about an inch back into the hairline and radiating outward in all directions about 3 inches. It seems similar to the sensation of a bruise. Very light pain if not touched, but painful if I flex my scalp, jaw or touch the area. I would expect this result if I had used a cement block for a pillow, or had taken a blow to the head. Nothing like that has occurred. I simply woke up a few days ago with this pain.

I see that suggestions include shingles, neuralgia, hair follicle infection and sinuses. At this point I am going to try to do a lymph massage and drain my sinuses as that is the easiest method. Second, I will try valtrex while also making an appointment to see the Dr. for further analysis.

Thank you for posting your experiences and solutions here as my first fear was brain tumor.

Please keep in mind if you have any sudden headache
 

With some of the symptoms I see described I want to be sure everyone alerts the DR to check the carotid arteries, at least with an ultrasound on the neck. My husbands headache was sudden and severe, though he had more symptoms than I see described here, some are familiar. Two Ers even a specialty well known teaching hospital er sent him home with a virus diagnosis with not one single ultrasound of the neck or even listening for a bruit with a stethoscope.

He did indeed have an extensive double internal carotid artery dissection. This was also missed by a neurologist. Drs had been trained that this was a rare occurrence in young people or people without trauma so they didn't look for it. It is indeed found to be the most common reason for stroke in young people. The less invasive testing now has discovered this. His was diagnosed after a MRA with contrast He had all the other testing, CT,ct contrast, mri, mri contrast, spinal tap, with the ers and neurologist, none were for this though, none were the MRA, or MRA contrast. No one did the simple neck ultrasound. A stethoscope listen can miss a bruit, but none of those were done either. He was diagnosed five months later at the mayo clinic in MN. He is extremely lucky to be alive.

I came here to see about my temporal sensitivity (slight, to the touch) . But some severe symptoms written here, and the lack of thinking about this possibility in the responses made me feel the need to bring this up.

Jennifer, thanks for your post.
Hopw is your husband doing now?
Yes it is often that doctors miss things. I feel there is so much responsibility on the patient. Sometimes we go from one docter to another. I
I was reading your post. Yes, theese were good reminders.
It was almost as if it was written to me.
I am having severe headache with throbbing, cramping bloodvessels in my temporal botht sides, but left more. I also have vasculitis. So I am pretty sure it could be temporal arteritis.
I am also on ASA and Plavix, So I am in a hurry, for my doc to call my neurovascular doc this am. I am requesting Ct brain, and a temporal artery biopsy. I have a note from my rheumatologist to request this.
My neurovascular doc will do a cerebral angiogram. I also want him to screen for aneurysm. I have a 2 years history on cerebral aneurysm
I will also ask re. Coratid Dopler

Hi! I have been feeling the same pain for about a week. The pain started right next to my eye and now it seems that it has dissipated a bit. The pain is almost gone. I was wondering if those of you who had it knew what caused it?

Thanks in advance.

Have same symptons. Did you ever find out what it was?

Did you evr hear back from anyone on what caused the sensation?

Sos
 

Has anyone found an answer to this? The memo about the carotid artery thing has me freaked out. I’ve had left temple pain with light touch that shoots to the back of my head for 9 months now.

Hi tambamd87

Welcome to NeuroTalk :).

You and tennis12 might find it helpful to use the Search command (https://www.neurotalk.org/search.php).

You can use it to search for posts from other members about topics related to carotid arteries which may assist you both.

Best wishes.

Answer
 

Hey 👋 itÂ’s after a long time but I am curious if u figured it out what was it ? I am experiencing the same problem. Thanks

Hi Believer91

Welcome to NeuroTalk :).

This thread is fairly old; you might get more responses if you started your own one in this forum.

Best wishes.

Did anyone find answers to this ? I have same problem
 

Anyone find answer? I have same issue

my dad had some problems with "shooter" pains in his temples and jaw. his neurologist diagnosed his as trigeminal nerve problems and prescribed carbatrol...it kept his terrible pain at bay. He couldnt even shave without these shooting pains...

I know this is an incredibly old thread, but by chance you’re still around here, did you ever get any answers? I’m a 37 year old female going down there very path, having the majority of these tests run as well without any definitive answers. Even did a cycle of Valtrax and no change. My pain started less than a week after having my next adjusted at the chiropractor.