Exploding head syndrome! It sounds like a horror movie but it actually is a physiological condition in which the sufferer occasionally experiences a terrible noise as If there is an explosion or a roar in his or her own head. It is actually a type of sleep disorders as it occurs usually while a person is falling asleep. The loud bang is not usually accompanied by a pain and is also not a result of a dream. Exploding head syndrome generally emerges from the left side of the head but appears as it is coming form the inner ear section. An elevated heart rate and strong body contraction is also sensed with that horrible sound in the head in some cases.
Women Are A Bit More Likely To Have Exploding Head Syndrome
The sleep dysfunction ‘exploding head syndrome’ was first described by a Welsh physician and psychiatrist Robert Armstrong-Jones in the year 1920. He was the one who characterized this physiological condition as a blow up sensation in the head. Then after a long gap of about 50 years another thorough explanation came through a British neurologist John M.S. Pearce. His report divulged the disease in detail which tells that the condition is more common in the people ages 50 years or more it also says that women are more prone to such sleep disorders than men. The Report also shed some light on the occurrence and reoccurrence of the phenomenon. It says kind of expositions in the head can be a one time event or may recur every now and then.
A Seizure Or Dysfunction In Eustachian Tube Might Cause This Unique Sleep Disorder
What causes this illness is still not confirm however, different notions are proposed such as:
- Explosive sound occurs due to a low-grade seizure activity happening in the mind
- Dysfunction in Eustachian tube may also cause the trouble
- A seizure in the temporal lobe can also produce such sound as nerve cells for hearing are based in the temporal lobe.
Physicians have been dealing with the trouble keeping such notions back in their mind as the etiology remains to be unknown on the subject. Nevertheless, EEG recorded on a few victims reveals some facts about the attack and strongly eliminated epileptic seizure as a prominent cause behind exploding head syndrome.
There Might Be Something Else Causing Explosion In The Head
The biggest problem with the illness is that it remains confusion for most of the patients and they don’t go to a doctor as they never realize they are having exploding head syndrome or something like a sleep disorder. This imagined sound of exposition may or may not because of exploding head syndrome. It might be something else that is causing a sound like a clash of cymbals such as:
- Substance abuse (psychoactive substances, including alcohol and illicit drugs)
- A sleep disorder (other than exploding head syndrome)
- A mental health disorder
- A medical history
- Discontinuation of a medication
Antidepressants May Provide Immediate Relief
The exploding head syndrome currently has no efficient treatment as the cause behind the illness is still unfamiliar. A few say reducing stress or applying rest tactics before bedtime may help. In some cases doctors prescribe antidepressants such as Clomipramine to provide immediate relief from the condition but they have been found effective only in few case rest of the time let it go away on its own attitude works best on exploding head syndrome.
