Thursday, December 23, 2010

- Exploding head syndrome.

Exploding head syndrome
 
Def:- is a condition that causes the sufferer occasionally to experience a tremendously loud noise as originating from within his or her own head, usually described as the sound of an explosion, roar, gunshot, loud voices or screams, a ringing noise, or the sound of electrical arcing (buzzing).
This noise usually occurs within an hour or two of falling asleep, but is not necessarily the result of a dream and can happen while awake as well.

Causes:- 
The cause of the exploding head syndrome (EHS) is not known, but :
  • Some physicians have reported its correlation with stress, anxiety, and extreme fatigue.
  • It may be the result of a sudden movement of a middle ear component or of the eustachian tube. 
  • It may be the result of a form of minor seizure in the temporal lobe where the nerve cells for hearing are located.
Symptoms:-
  • sufferer occasionally experience a tremendously loud noise as originating from within his or her own head, usually described as the sound of an explosion, gunshot, door slamming, roar, waves crashing against rocks, loud voices, a ringing noise, the terrific bang on a tin tray, or the sound of an electrical short circuit (buzzing).
  • The condition may develop at any time during life.
  • Attacks can be one-time events, or can recur.

Treatment:-
  • Symptoms may be resolved spontaneously over time.
  • Reassurance of the patient that this symptom is harmless.
  • One medication that has been used to treat exploding head syndrome is clomipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant. 
  • If stress is causing the episodes, it is advised to either seek to clear the problem. This could include reading, yoga, relaxing music or a hot bath before bed. These steps have also demonstrated to have positive effects in achieving quality sleep in general.
Dr Ibrahim
Return to list of medical syndromes here

References:-

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