Airplane Headache

Cartoon Reenactment of JetBlue Flight Attendant’s Dramatic Exit

No, the term "airplane headache" does not refer to disgruntled JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater (or to being a passenger on that flight). Instead, it refers to a recently characterized type of headache that occurs during take-off and landing (Atkonson & Lee, 2004). The pain appears to be unique to plane travel and not associated with other conditions. Neurological exam and brain imaging results in all published cases (n=14) have been normal.

A new case study of a man with airplane headaches has been reported by Domitrz (2010). Clinical details are as follows:

A 29-year-old healthy man, who works as a psychologist, reported that during his last airplane journey, he developed a very severe and sudden jabbing headache located in the left frontal region with radiation into the left eye. It started during take-off, diminished during the 2-h flight, a very mild pain was present during the flight and increased during plane’s descent and lasted until a few minutes after landing. Then, the pain completely and spontaneously subsided. The same situation took place 3 days later when the patient was returning. He remembers that he had similar, but milder headaches during previous flights. However, they occurred only during airplane flights and did not develop during jumbo jet flights. Similar headache did not appear in other altitude variation moments, e.g. in mountain trips.

The pain was always located in the left frontal region with radiation into the left eye without any autonomic symptoms and neurological focal problems. He could not move until the headache disappeared. The patient has no medical history of sinus problems and using any medications. The family history has shown only tension type headache in patient’s 4 years older sister. General (including blood pressure and heart rate), neurological, otolaryngological and ophthalmological examinations were normal. Brain magnetic resonance imaging also with angiography excluded any structural lesions and arterial malformations.

Domitrz (2010) further notes that most reported cases have been in young males, as is her patient. She is also puzzled by why he gets these headaches only on airplanes that are not jumbo jets -- perhaps it is connected with differences in air pressure, she speculates.

What causes this specific type of headache? One view is that barotrauma is involved, with pressure changes affecting the trigeminovascular system (Berilgen & Müngen, 2006):

We think that barotrauma caused by pressure changes in the cabin during take-off and landing could affect ethmoidal nerves (branching from the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve) that carry the senses of the mucosa on the inner surface of the paranasal sinuses, and/or nociceptors in ethmoidal arteries, thereby activating the trigeminovascular system and leading to headache.

It's enough to make someone attempt an emergency exit!

References

Atkonson V, Lee L. (2004). An unusual case of an airplane headache. Headache 44:438–439

Berilgen MS, Müngen B. (2006). Headache associated with airplane travel: report of six cases. Cephalalgia 26:707-11.

Domitrz, I. (2010). Airplane headache: a further case report of a young man. The Journal of Headache and Pain DOI: 10.1007/s10194-010-0245-9