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What causes inflammation of the temporal artery?
Temporal arteritis is a condition that causes inflammation of arteries—the blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart. The exact cause of temporal arteritis is unknown, but the inflammation appears to be a result of the immune system overreacting and attacking the body’s own tissues.
What is the main cause of arteritis?
No one knows what causes arteritis. It’s believed to be an autoimmune disorder. Your immune cells attack the walls of your major blood vessels, causing varying degrees of damage. The immune bodies inside your blood vessels form nodules called granulomas that block blood flow to other parts of your body.
Can temporal arteritis go away by itself?
Temporal arteritis cannot heal on its own and requires immediate medical treatment.
What can mimic temporal arteritis?
Pain syndromes that may mimic temporal arteritis include tension-type headache, brain tumor, other forms of arteritis, trigeminal neuralgia involving the first division of the trigeminal nerve, demyelinating disease, migraine headache, cluster headache, migraine, and chronic paroxysmal hemicrania.
How long can you live with temporal arteritis?
The median survival time for the 44 GCA cases was 1,357 days (3.71 years) after diagnosis, compared with 3,044 days (8.34 years) for the controls (p = ….Table 2.
| Total number of patients | 44 |
|---|---|
| Deceased | 21 (47.7%) |
| Polymyalgia rheumatica diagnosis | 9 (20.5%) |
| Vision loss | 24 (54.5%) |
When should I be concerned about temple pain?
The cause of pain in the temples is often stress or tension. However, it is important to recognize when head pain or accompanying symptoms are not manageable at home. If the pain becomes more frequent or intense, or if symptoms such as confusion, dizziness, a fever, or vomiting occur, see a doctor.
Why do I keep getting pain in my temples?
Pressure in temples is fairly common and often brought on by stress or tense muscles in the jaw, head, or neck. OTC pain relievers, improving your posture, and managing your stress may be all you need. See your doctor if you’re concerned or have other symptoms.
How long does it take to go blind from temporal arteritis?
Vision loss can happen very quickly. About 30 to 50 percent of people with untreated GCA will lose vision in one eye. Sometimes, blindness occurs in the other eye 1 to 10 days later.
How do you relieve temple pain?
Try taking an over-the-counter pain reliever such as acetaminophen (Panadol, Tylenol), aspirin (Bayer, Buffrin), or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, Nuprin). Sometimes a nap will do the trick, too. If you take medicine daily and your headaches aren’t going away, tell your doctor.
Are there any known causes of temporal arteritis?
The causes of temporal arteritis are poorly understood. There is no well-established trigger or risk factors. One cause may be a faulty immune response; i.e., the body’s immune system may “attack” the body.
What kind of pain does tempeoral arteritis cause?
Often, tempeoral arteritis can be associated with an entity called polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), which is an inflammatory condition affecting the shoulders, hip girdle and neck. This leads to significant stiffness and pain. PMR is far more common than temporal arteritis, but up to 30 percent of temporal arteritis patients have PMR.
What happens to the blood vessels in the temples?
Temporal arteritis is a form of vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels). In temporal arteritis, also known as giant cell arteritis or Horton’s arteritis, the temporal arteries (the blood vessels near the temples), which supply blood from the heart to the scalp, are inflamed (swollen) and constricted (narrowed).
How are blood tests done for temporal arteritis?
The doctor will also examine the patient’s head to look for scalp tenderness or swelling of the temporal arteries. The doctor will first order blood tests, such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein, to measure how much inflammation (swelling) there is in the body.