Underground Journal

A Quick Overview About Tension Headaches

A headache is characterized by a pain or discomfort in the head or neck and has 2 major forms. The first form of headaches are primary headaches. Primary headaches are due to stress or poor posture. Primary headaches are not caused by any special condition other than the ones mentioned above. The second form of headaches is secondary headaches. Secondary headaches are the result of some disease or brain disorder.

The most common headache types are migraine headaches, also known as the female headache, and tension headaches.

Tension headaches are characterized by a vibrant pain affecting both sides of the head, and high pressure behind the eyes. As with migraine headaches, tension headaches are more common in women than men. They affect around 45% of the population.  Their duration is between one to seven hours and in rare cases they may last a number of days. The frequency of tension headaches varies between one to three incidents per month, depending on the lifestyle habits of the patient. Patients that get stressed more frequently will experience tension headaches more often. If the occurrence of tension headaches becomes weekly or sometimes daily then they are called chronic tension headaches.

The main symptoms of tension headaches include:

Mild or moderate pain
Pain on both sides of the head (most patients describe the pain like a tight band around the head)
Tension headahces pain is constant during the headache crisis
Tension headaches are not accompanied by nausea or vomiting, as in the case of migraine headaches
Tension headaches sometimes become worse when exposed to bright lights or loud noise (some of the major characteristics of migraine headaches)
Tension headaches also expose a feeling of pressure behind the eyes and a tightening of the neck muscles.

Major ways for tension headache treatment

You can cure tension-type headaches using relaxation techniques (massage, yoga) or by taking over-the-counter normal painkillers.

If the pain from the headaches is consistent and normal pain killers cannot provide relief then you should seek the professional advice of a doctor specialized in headache treatment.

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