Clinical assessment for Paramedics - Essay Example

Clinical assessment for Paramedics Analysis of case According to Speciali et al. (2008, pp. 839-853), headache is a pain in thehead or neck region that could indicate number of conditions. Headache is not a pain in the brain, as brain tissues lack pain receptors thus not sensitive to pain. Headache can be classified into either primary headache or secondary headaches ( Pluta 2011, pp. 405). Primary headache is benign which are recurrent and not caused by any underlying diseases or structural problem.

Secondary headaches result from underlying conditions like injury. Headaches can be classified into types like tension headache; is the most common type of headache. It is normally non-server and can last between 30 minutes to several days. This type is linked to things like stress, dehydration, poor posture or skipping a meal. Tension headache really causes nausea and vomiting and may not interfere with the activities of daily living. Migraine headache; is a less tense headache. Usually felt as throbbing pain at the front side of the head.

Cluster headache; occurs in clusters for a month or two at the same time of the year. Cluster headache is the most server type with the descried as having a burning sensation or a piercing/ throbbing quality. The pain is usually located behind one eye or in the region of the eye without changing sides (Gladstone & Dodick, 2004, pp. 304–314). Mixed headache; is also called transformed migraine. This is a combination of tension and migraine headache and is experienced by both adults and children.

Inferring to case 1, the patient is suffering from a tension headache with the pain rated at 5/10. The patient presents with the headache following stressful episodes and the pain feels like a tight band around the head make the type of headache in case one fit the diagnosis of a tension headache. Ordinary painkillers such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, lifestyle changes and hydration are important for its management. Despite the headache being, non-severe the patient will be followed up after discharged, as the headache may be a symptom of an underlying condition.

In the process of discharging the patient, neurological test would be necessary to rule out diseases that might cause the headache like multiple sclerosis, epilepsy cerebrovascular diseases. Mental status examination (MSE) would be done to assess the orientation of the patient to person, place and time as an indication of fitness of his/her neurological status (Loder et al., 2008, pp. 88-92).BibliographyGladstone, J.P. & Dodick, D.W., 2004. Revised 2004 International Classification of Headache Disorders: new headache types.

The Canadian journal of neurological sciences. Le journal canadien des sciences neurologiques, 31, pp.304–314.Loder, E. and Rizzoli, P. (2008) “Tension-type headache” British Medical Journal, Vol. 336, No. 7635, pp. 88–92.Pluta, R. M. (2011) “Tension-Type Headache” The Journal of the American medical Association, Vol. 306, No. 4, p. 405Speciali, G., Eckeli, A. L. and Dach, F. (2008) “Tension-type headache” Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, Vol. 8, No. 5, pp. 839-853.