Symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) can be difficult to describe, particularly when they’re new. A common but often puzzling symptom that members of MyMSTeam report is the sensation of head pressure.

“New symptom today,” one MyMSTeam member wrote. “Has anyone else experienced pressure in the front or top of your head?”

Being able to talk about MS symptoms that are hard to describe is a valuable skill. Sharing what you’re feeling is a key part of your MS care. The more details you can give your health care provider, the better they can understand what’s causing the pressure in your head and how to help manage it.

What Does Head Pressure With MS Feel Like?

Head pressure is a symptom of MS that people can’t see and it feels different for everyone. Some might feel a light, tight feeling, while others might have really bad pain that’s hard to handle.

This is how MS-related head pressure feels to a few MyMSTeam members:

• “It feels as if my head has a tight band around it and is being squeezed very tightly.”
• “It’s a weird pressure, tightness … almost fizzing, and a fuzzy, brain fog feeling.”
• “I do get weird stuff on the top of my head — tingling and itching. Sometimes, I get pressure on the front of my head, too.”
• “I get pressure in the front of my head and my temples. It gets worse if I look down or bend forward.”
• “I’ve had pressure on the roof of my mouth and the bridge of my nose. Almost a squeezing sensation like I’m being pinched. I also have tightness in my forehead, cheeks, and jaw.”

How Does Head Pressure Affect People With MS?

Understanding a hard-to-explain symptom like head pressure is partly based on how it feels to the person experiencing it. The other important part is how that symptom affects their emotions and daily life. Members of MyMSTeam have talked about this, too.

• “I’ve been feeling really off, like there’s a brick wall in my head and information cannot pass through it. It reminds me of cog fog, except my head feels like it’s in the clouds.”
• “It’s so frustrating and leaves me feeling overwhelmed and sad because it’s so hard to do normal daily tasks.”
• “It feels like pressure in my head makes it harder to hear. It gets overwhelming when too many people are talking.”

When Does Head Pressure Occur for People With MS?

The severity of MS symptoms can come and go. Episodes when your MS symptoms get worse, called relapses, can signal increased disease activity or progression, especially in relapsing forms of MS. For some people, these relapses seem to happen randomly. For others, certain internal or external factors, known as triggers, can bring on flares.

Some MyMSTeam members have reported that their head pressure seemed to be linked to other factors.

• “The pressure changes in my head with movement, like when I get out of the car or after I take a few steps.”
• “The pressure in my head gets a lot worse when it’s hot or cold.”
• “I’ve noticed that when this happens to me now, it’s often when my sinuses are clogged.”
• “When I stood up or got out of the car, my whole head felt like it was pulsating and ready to explode. I called these episodes ‘flash headaches.’”

How Might Head Pressure Be Linked to MS?

In MS, the immune system attacks its own healthy tissues, leading to inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and spinal cord. This inflammation results in lesions (scar tissue) and demyelination (damage to the fatty insulation around nerves).

Lesions and nerve damage in the CNS can cause neuropathy (nerve dysfunction) by disrupting the proper flow of electrical signals between the body and the CNS. This damage can affect how a person processes, perceives, and responds to sensory information (i.e., smell, taste, sight, touch, and hearing). This can appear in a variety of ways, which could include pressure in the head.

Dysesthesia

Dysesthesia, which means “abnormal sensation,” is a common sensory symptom of MS. Strange sensations include:

• Pressure without a clear cause
• Numbness or tingling
• Tightness or squeezing
• Pain or discomfort

Many people with MS describe dysesthesia as a weird sensation in the head or body, often difficult to explain but disruptive to daily life. Dysesthesia may result from damage to nerves that carry information about one’s senses to and from the brain. Sensory changes are often among a person’s first symptoms of MS.

MS Hug

The MS hug, a common form of dysesthesia, is often one of the first symptoms people with MS experience. Also called banding or girdling, it feels like a tight, constricting sensation around the chest or torso, though some may feel it around their heads. One member described their head pressure by saying, “It feels like a band wrapped around the left side of my head. Along with a steady, dull ache.”

Paresthesia

Paresthesia involves abnormal sensory experiences caused mainly by pressure on nerves. It’s not typically painful, but paresthesia can be uncomfortable and irritating.

Common sensations include:

• Numbness or pins and needles
• Tingling or buzzing
• Vibrations or crawling insect sensations

Neuropathic Pain

Almost 25 percent of people with MS experience neuropathic pain from demyelination. This can lead to long-lasting pain affecting the nerves in the CNS.

Trigeminal Neuralgia

The trigeminal nerve is a large nerve that transmits nerve signals from the CNS to the mouth, face, and part of the head. Trigeminal neuralgia, or tic douloureux, is inflammation of the trigeminal nerve. Tic douloureux translates from French to “painful tic” or “painful twitch.” Trigeminal neuralgia often causes sensory changes and neuropathic pain in and around the head and face in 4 percent to 6 percent of people with MS.

Neuritis

Neuritis means nerve inflammation, and the symptoms can vary depending on which nerves are affected, where they are, and how severe the inflammation is. Several major nerves, called cranial nerves, run across the face and the top and front of the head. Cranial nerve damage or inflammation could contribute to a feeling of pressure in your head.

The optic nerve relays visual messages to the CNS so inflammation or damage to or near it can cause blurred vision, double vision, loss of vision, and pain. Many people with MS experience vision problems caused by inflammation and nerve damage. Inflammation can also affect the tendons, muscles, and other tissues of the eye.

Optic Neuritis

Optic neuritis, inflammation of the optic nerve, can affect people differently. The type of pain caused by optic neuritis, a condition common among people with MS, has been described by some as dull and throbbing, and by others as sharp and stabbing. Eye movement can aggravate these symptoms or make them worse.

“I get this pressure in the roof of my mouth and bridge of my nose,” one MyMSTeam member shared. “No congestion. No headache. Not painful, just annoying. And it causes my vision to lose focus in my left eye.” This member shared that their health care provider had ruled out a diagnosis of optic neuritis. They are still searching for an explanation for the mystery pressure in their head.

Talk With Your Doctor

Head pressure can be a confusing and frustrating symptom for people with MS. It can feel different for everyone and may be linked to other MS symptoms or flare-ups. While head pressure isn’t always easy to explain, talking openly with your health care provider can help identify what might be causing it and find ways to manage it.

Find Your Team

MyMSTeam is the social network for people with MS and their loved ones. Here, more than 216,000 members come together to ask questions, give advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with multiple sclerosis.

Do you experience head pressure? How does it affect your life? Share your experiences in the comments below, or start a conversation by posting on your Activities page.