Tension headaches - the cause : Study

Tension headaches are very common.

Did you know the way you sleep, sit or stand can be the cause?

Tension headaches are most common kind of headaches.

Although stress and fatigue can make them worse, a tension headache often starts with misaligned vertebrae.

This misalignment may irritate a spinal nerve, setting in motion other physical problems like tightening muscles and causing the steady, 'vicelike' pain of a tension headache.

Unlike migraine headaches, tension headaches are usually not unilateral or associated with light and sound sensitivity or nausea and vomiting.

Is it a tension headache?

1. Do you have steady, dull, tight pain around your scalp or neck?

2. Does the pain begin in the back of your neck and move forward throughout your whole head?

3. Do you sleep on your stomach with your head twisted to the side, or sit for long periods bent over in one position?

4. Do your neck and shoulder muscles feel stiff?

5. Does stress or fatigue, like that felt during long work days, trigger your headaches?  

Parents, don't waits!

Call your doctor if your child has head pain that is severe or that is causes him or her to miss school or others activities. A child who's too young to tell you what's wrong may cry to hold his or her head to indicate severe pain. 

Treatment

A tension headache often does not signal any dangerous illness. Check and re -align your sleeping, sitting or standing posture. 

Most of the time, the pain will go away with time.

However, if a tension headache becomes a hindrance to your daily activities, talk to a doctor or chiropractor. He or she can help you to work out plans to overcome the frequency of headaches. Simple lifestyle changes and proper medications may alleviate the pain.

Talk to a doctor if you have:

1. Abrupt, severe headache.

2. Headache with other symptoms, eg, a fever, stiff neck, rash, mental confusion, seizures, double-vision, weakness, numbness or speaking difficulties.

3. Headache after a head injury or concussion.

4. Chronic headache that worsens and is precipitated by coughing, exertion, straining or sudden movements.

5. Onset of new headache pain, especially after age 50.