nerve pain from irritation causes this hypervigilance of pain signals. in older people, with pain along vessels, one should consider ESR check for temporal arteritis. in younger patients, it's benign and a nuisance at best. sometimes, wearing helmets or headgear can cause this...meralgia paresthetica anyone? using lidocaine crea, on your temple should help--just keep it away from your eyes. (not that it would hurt, but it could cause you to scratch your eye but not feeling it)

Just thought i would come back to the forum and post my results. About a week after I posted I was at work and all of a sudden i felt a rush of fluid down my throat and in my nose. My sinuses had drained. Then, no matter what i tried, i couldn't bring that pain back to my temple. A few days later the pain was back a little, and then the same thing happened. My sinuses drained and no more pain. So for most of you, a sinus infection is probably the culprit. If you are worrying about it get it checked out by a doctor or dentist and they can tell you. No temporal arteritis, no TMJ, no tension headache, no cancer, no HSV1, just a simple sinus infection.

Its the oddest thing -- a very dull pain when not touched, no to little pain when I press firmly anywhere on the top of my head, but quite painful when I very delicately touch or stroke my head. This thread was helpful -- I'm thinking that perhaps stress (lot of that) or perhaps the sinus infection (I was recently exposed to a sniffles bug my kids got -- perhaps an odd complication w/that). I will pursue those angles and report back if anything noteworthy comes out of it.

Hello all. I have developed a headache and sensitivity similiar to what's been discussed for the past month. Sometimes it's more painful than others, such as when I sleep on that particular side. I greatly aggravated my rotator cuff tear about the time the headaches started. I also was working in my garage off and on this summer and Lord knows the stuff that gets into your nostrils. Lastly, I bumped my head on a lit light bulb in my cramped garage attic, breaking it. Didn't feel any shock but did detect a slight odor of burnt hair. This occured about the same time as my headaches started as well. I was diagnosed<sp> with shingles a few years ago, but my only symptom then was a rash on my back, which I thought were multiple bug bites. All thoughts are greatly appreciated.

i am a 56 year old female and am experiencing these same symptoms...long story short, been to MD., ENT., facial pain dentist, regular dentist..had a CT. MRI , tested for temporal aritis, lupas, rhuemetoid and numerous other auto immune...had cortisone shot in temple, tried anti seizure drugs, muscle relaxers, and xanax at bedtime, because i might be really clenching my jaws, wear a night guard, been tested for TMj , stilll no answers and still have pain. Again, mostly when i graze it with my glasses, put makeup on, or wrap a towel around head after a shower, i avoid sleeping on my right side when it is really tender.....the shingles idea is an interesting option, never had them that i know of, but if chicken pox could be cuprit, had those.....looking at going to a neurologist next....any answers out there???

so pretty much diagnosed myself, partly thanks to the information on this foum,,,i am taken valtrex now, and pain seems tobe a bit better after just a couple days...hope this is the answer!!

Just a thought, could it be Allodynia: Pain from stimuli which are not normally painful?

I have chronic migraines and experience this frequently in different parts of my head, but occasionally one temple or the other. It usually is located either at the very top of my head or the crown. My hair hurts. Ice seems to provide the most relief for me.

Hey there Utah Chris, i'm new to this site so I'm not sure if i'm replying correctly... I was wondering if anything ever came of your condition. I have the exact same thing and i've just been trying to ignore it hoping it would go away but it has been about 2 months now and i'm getting a little worried because I've been feeling a lot of pressure which is totally new and have been having slight dizzy spells...Just wondering if you ever came across any answers to your problem. Thanks!

Hi guys, I read this post and a certain illness is jumping out at me and that is giant cell arteritis. Someone said in a post 'I think it's vascular' and I believe that's right. I have a form of vasculitis and suffer extreme headache, fatigue, blurred vision, neuro symptoms. A lot of different problems. Also my skin on my scalp and elsewhere is infused with a sort of neuralgia pain. It is exhausting. I am sorry if this didn't post correctly. I'm new to using iPad so not very good with it. But if it hasn't worked please google the topic.....lotsa stuff online about it but I think it's a strong candidate.

I'm glad you all have posted this here. I have been having this mystery pain (just under surface of skin in left temporal area, centered about an inch back into the hairline and radiating outward in all directions about 3 inches. It seems similar to the sensation of a bruise. Very light pain if not touched, but painful if I flex my scalp, jaw or touch the area. I would expect this result if I had used a cement block for a pillow, or had taken a blow to the head. Nothing like that has occurred. I simply woke up a few days ago with this pain.

I see that suggestions include shingles, neuralgia, hair follicle infection and sinuses. At this point I am going to try to do a lymph massage and drain my sinuses as that is the easiest method. Second, I will try valtrex while also making an appointment to see the Dr. for further analysis.

Thank you for posting your experiences and solutions here as my first fear was brain tumor.