There are many causes and types of headaches, but a medical journal recently revealed a “rare” case that had not been recorded since 2017.
The Journal of Clinical Case Reports said a 60-year-old Sri Lankan woman had been diagnosed with BRH, or “shower-related headache”, reports Al-Rai daily.
“Shower headache” is a rare headache disorder, with no reported cases in the world since 2017, while the number of cases affected between 2000 and 2017 was limited to only 50.
This type of headache often affects middle-aged Asian women, and the aches appear after exposure to hot water.
The magazine indicated that the woman, whose name was not disclosed, had no history of migraine-related illness, but she had been suffering from headaches for two years after her hot bath.
What surprised the scientists was that the woman’s neurological, blood, and MRI scans of the brain and intracranial vessels were normal.
The woman was treated with opioid and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkillers, but the pain did not go away until she was given nimodipine and avoided hot water, so her condition stabilized over two years, during which her health status was monitored.
Nimodipine is a type of medication called calcium channel blockers, which work by inhibiting the entry of calcium ions through the channels of blood vessels into the muscle cells that are found in their walls, which helps to relax them and reduce pressure in the vessels.
Experts are calling for shower-related headaches to be included in the International Classification of Headache Disorders, a system used by paramedics globally to identify and categorize all headache disorders and grades.
