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up vote 25 down vote accepted



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So if I tear my head apart leaving brain miraculously intact I'll never get headache again? What part of my skull gets pain from stress? And which one is hurt by not sleeping? I think most headaches are not explained by skull being hurt. – Tomáš Zato Nov 24 '14 at 23:43

Your question caused me to look up wikipedia. Citing:


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You are correct in that the neurons themselves do not sense pain. However, the brain contains layers of coverings, blood vessels, the scalp and some muscles. All of these other structures have pain receptors. The coverings of the brain are called meninges and consist of the dura, arachnoid and pia. The dura in particular has a lot of pain receptors and may be responsible for many headaches. As a neurosurgeon I have seen this first hand during awake brain surgery when we open the dura. The patient usually doesn't report any pain when you drill a hole in their skull. However, they start to report dull pain or headache when you stimulate or touch the dura.

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@ area51 - "The patient usually doesn't report any pain when you drill a hole in their skull" ? – Ram Manohar M Sep 3 '13 at 13:22
They're probably under a local anesthetic, but it would be less shocking if that was noted explicitly. – Resonating Sep 4 '13 at 23:00
The local anesthetic only numbs the scalp not the bone. Generally patients don't experience bone bain when drilling the bone. The next layer encountered is the dura. We generally don't number the dura and patients may report a dull pain or headache when manipulating or cutting the dura. – area51 Dec 23 '13 at 19:56

protected by Chris Sep 9 '14 at 6:19


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