What Are The Stress Headache Causes
A stress headache is not simply a mental phenomenon. Although stress headaches are the most common form of headaches among adults, its causes are not well understood.
Stress is the biggest factor of tension headaches. It includes mental stress and emotional tension.
This stress could be due to work, your boss or colleague at your workplace, conflicts in the family, a fight with your loved one, or any other uncomfortable situation.
Apart from stress, some other factors to consider while seeking stress headache relief measures include:
- Eyestrain or squinting to read
- Using a chair without any low back support
- Incorrect position of the monitor/screen, which should be at your eye level
- Holding the phone between the ear and shoulders while talking for long hours
- Using the computer mouse without any elbow support
Stress headache is thought to be caused by muscle tension or tightness around the head and neck. It is also assumed that these tension headaches have something to do with the mixed signals sent by the nerves to the brain.
Daily stress could be one of the causes that may lead to chronic tension headaches. Before that happens, you should either seek self-help measures or professional help for stress headache relief.
What Causes A Tension Headache
The exact mechanism that causes a tension headache is not known. Several factors, such as genetics and environment, are thought to be involved. Muscle contractions in the head and neck are considered a major factor in the development of a tension headache. Some people get tension headaches in response to stressful events or hectic days.
How To Get Rid Of A Tension Headache The Basics
According to the International Headache Society, tension headaches are generally a short-lived, infrequent incident. These types of headaches are known as episodic tension headaches and can last from anywhere between 30 minutes and seven days.
For those who develop frequent tension headaches, the episodes may bring more severe pain than those who experience them only occasionally. Some peoplearound 3% of the U.S. populationdevelop chronic tension headaches. The main difference between the two is that chronic headaches are recurring and happen more than 15 days out of a month for three or more months. The pain and severity of this kind of headache also tends to wax and wane rather than being at a constant level.
Both episodic tension headaches and chronic cases occur more frequently in women than in men. Learn more about tension headaches in the video.
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Causes And Symptoms Of Tension Headaches
Experts dont know for sure what causes tension headaches. They used to think that muscle tension and spasms on your neck, face, and head are to blame. However, recent studies suggest that brain chemicals may also be the culprit. What doctors agree on is that tension headaches are usually a result of bad habits and certain activities. Repetitive activities, work pressure, relationship stress, and poor posture are all triggers of tension headaches.
Activities that contribute to tension headache include:
- Working on your computer for prolonged periods
- Driving for so long without taking a rest
- Playing video games for long hours
- Jaw clenching during the day or at night
- Sleeping on your stomach
These activities tend to overstretch your back and neck muscles and, as a result, weaken them. Also, overusing muscle can cause pain and spasms, increasing your chance of contracting tension headaches.
If you feel you have been stressed for the past few days and are beginning to feel pressure on your head, look out for the following tension headache symptoms:
- Constant pain on your temples or on the backside of your head and neck
- Tightness or pressure on your forehead
- Tenderness on your scalp, neck, and shoulder muscles
- Sensitivity to light and sound
How To Relieve A Tension Headache
Because tension headaches have various causes, its a good idea to keep a journal and log any instances to try and ID your triggers. If you can determine what sets off the pain , then you can do your best to avoid that particular trigger. That said, the following tips can all help you find eventual relief:
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Q: Are There Different Types Of Tension Headaches
A: We categorize tension headaches as episodic or chronic.Episodic tension headaches are milder, less frequent and relativelyshort-lived.
If someone reaches a threshold of 15 headache days a month, orrealizes their headaches are affecting their life quality, we would label thoseas chronic tension headaches.
How To Tell The Difference Between Tension Headache And Migraine
Typically, migraines are more severe than tension headaches, though this isnt always the case. A bad tension headache can outdo a mild migraine, and some migraines have symptoms that dont include pain!
Tension headaches more commonly occur across both sides, whether in the front or the back of the head. Migraines are more typically on one side only.
People often describe as being throbbing in nature. Whereas tension headaches are a dull ache, often accompanied by stiffness in the neck.
Migraines sometimes have other symptoms. These may come before or during the headache itself. They include changes to your vision, such as flashing lights or tunnel vision, nausea, constipation, fatigue, and changes to taste and smell.
People with migraine are often sensitive to light, whereas people with a tension headache tend to be more sensitive to sound.
Of course, this list isnt definitive! But it describes commonly found differences between the two headache types. You may recognise yourself in these descriptions. But remember, you can suffer from more than one type of headache.
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Key Points About Tension Headache
How To Seek Stress Headache Relief
The action plan to seek relief from stress headache consists of
- Lowering stress levels
- Eating healthy food at regular intervals
Is this difficult to achieve?
You may need to make efforts to change your lifestyle, but it will all be for your good. Most importantly, take care of your stress levels and body posture.
Stress Levels
Remember one thing when you try to lower your stress levels that if you cant change the stressful situation change your reaction towards it.
This will help you maintain your composure. You also need to achieve mind-control so that you dont raise your stress and anxiety level, and eventually not have stress headache.
Poor Posture
A good posture puts minimal strain on your ligaments, muscles, tendons, and bones. So, they dont get tensed up.
However, poor posture puts continual strain on your shoulders, neck, and upper back. This causes the muscle fibers to tear.
As a result you feel tightness in those areas and the flow of blood to the back of your head is restricted, besides causing some nerve ending irritation too.
Dont worry you do have an army of stress headache relief techniques that can really help you normalize the muscles, nerves, and achieve mental balance.
Heres a short video that shows some exercises that you can do on your own to seek relief from stress headache, whenever you take a break from your work.
Dr. Kevin McDougal ~ Get Rid of Computer Neck Headaches and Shoulder Pain ~ You Tube Video
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Ways To Relieve A Tension Headache Naturally
By Elizabeth Foley
If you feel like you have a tight band wrapped around your head, you are probably experiencing a tension headache. Tension headaches occur when the muscles in your neck, back and scalp tighten to a painful degree. There are a number of reasons the muscles involved in a tension headache become stiff and aggravated. Here are the most common tension headache triggers and five natural ways to achieve long-lasting relief.
Give Yourself A Massage
Gently targeting the muscles in your scalp, temples, or bottom of your neck can help relieve the tension that spurred your headache, Dr. Mikhael says.
You can also target your masseter musclethe thick muscle that connects your jawbone and cheekboneif you tend to clench, grind, or generally hold tension in your face. When your jaw becomes too tight, it can cause other nearby muscles in your head and neck to do the same. When the force is too great you can get tension headaches, David Reavy, a Chicago-based physical therapist, previously told Prevention.
Try this 10-second masseter massage from Reavy a few times a day:
- Place the pads of your fingers or knuckles at the masseter muscle.
- Then, open your jaw as much as you can.
- Close your mouth and repeat until you feel the muscle release.
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How Can You Treat Stress Headaches
Depending on the severity and length of your stress headache, it can go away on its own by simply taking a break from whatever activity is causing you stress, said Dr. Wexler. Lying down, meditating, doing some light yoga, or other forms of self-care are all great options.
However, if the pain is really bothersome, most stress headaches can be treated with over-the-counter analgesics like ibuprofen or naproxen, said Dr. Bronerbut be wary of the frequency with which you’re taking medications. “If you find that you’re taking more than once a week on a regular basis, that’s a sign that you’re getting increased headache frequency and you should speak to your doctor about what’s causing your headaches,” said Dr. Broner.
Remedies To Get Rid Of Headaches Naturally
Headaches are a common condition that many people deal with on a daily basis.
Ranging from uncomfortable to downright unbearable, they can disrupt your day-to-day life.
Several types of headaches exist, with tension headaches being the most common. Cluster headaches are painful and happen in groups or clusters, while migraines are a moderate-to-severe type of headache.
Although many medications are targeted at relieving headache symptoms, a number of effective, natural treatments also exist.
Here are 18 effective home remedies to naturally get rid of headaches.
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Medications And Home Care
You can start by drinking more water. You may be dehydrated and need to increase your water intake. Also, you should consider how much sleep youre getting.
Lack of sleep can lead to tension headaches, so be sure to get plenty of sleep. And make sure you dont skip any meals, since hunger can trigger headaches.
If none of those strategies work, then you can take over-the-counter pain medications, such as ibuprofen or aspirin, to get rid of a tension headache. However, these should only be used occasionally.
Using OTC medications too much may lead to overuse or rebound headaches. These types of headaches occur when you become so accustomed to a medication that you experience pain when it wears off.
OTC drugs are sometimes not enough to treat recurring tension headaches. In such cases, a healthcare professional may give you a prescription for medication, such as:
If pain relievers arent working, they may prescribe a muscle relaxant. This is a medication that helps stop muscle contractions.
A healthcare professional may also prescribe an antidepressant, such as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor . SSRIs can stabilize your brains levels of serotonin and can help you cope with stress.
They may also recommend other strategies, such as:
The following may also ease your tension headache:
- Apply a heating pad or ice pack to your head for 5 to 10 minutes several times a day.
- Take a hot bath or shower to relax tense muscles.
- any situations that trigger stress
Why Do I Get Tension Headaches Every Day
Lifestyle factors can play a part in how often we experience headaches as certain aspects of our lives can trigger tension headaches. For example your headaches may occur when youre dehydrated, hungry or tired. Finding out what exactly is triggering is your tension headaches, and taking action to avoid these will help you to manage your headaches and hopefully reduce them.
References
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Apply A Cold Compress
Some reports indicate cold compresses are great relievers of inflammation. This idea is perhaps most popular when dealing with a sprained ankle, as many individuals choose to place a frozen bag of peas or something like that over the injury to reduce the swelling and pain. Cold compresses for headaches help decrease inflammation, release pressure, regulate blood flow, and subsequently, relieve pain.
All of these are wonderful when dealing with a tension headache, provided the proper actions are taken of course. Individuals can either apply the cold compress to the back of the neck or rest it on their forehead. In either case, lying down is the most comfortable position for using a cold compress to relieve a tension headache. Cold compresses can be ice packs or ice cubes wrapped in cloth, gel packs, or even a bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in cloth. The key, of course, is to wrap anything frozen in cloth so the sensation isn’t too intense to handle.
Add In Some Peppermint Oil While Youre At It
Cliganic Organic Peppermint Essential Oil
Cliganic Organic Peppermint Essential Oil
Because peppermint oil causes a cooling sensation, it can feel really good on tense muscles. Research backs up its benefits, too: One older but often-cited study found that applying a 10% peppermint oil solution to the temples actually has pain-relieving properties similar to Tylenol. Newer research has led to similar results.
Sara Crystal, M.D., a neurologist, headache specialist, and medical advisor at Cove, previously spoke with Prevention and offered this peppermint oil massage:
- Dilute a few drops of the peppermint essential oil into another oil carrier, like coconut oil.
- Massage the oil into the temples and forehead, working in circular motions with the index and middle fingers.
- Continue for one minute.
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Acute Treatment For Cluster Headaches
Given the severity and also the relative brevity of cluster headaches, acute treatments need to work quickly to relieve the pain and suffering caused by them. According to neurologist and headache expert and researcher Peter J. Goadsby, MBBS, writing for the American Headache Society, effective acute treatments for cluster headaches include:
- Injected dihydroergotamine
- Topical lidocaine nasal drops
Another option, the drug Emgality , was approved in 2019 to treat cluster headaches, becoming the only drug specifically approved for this type of headache. Its also approved for the prevention of migraine attacks.
When used to treat cluster headaches, Emgality is self-administered using three, 100-milligram prefilled syringes, which are taken one after the other at the start of a cluster period and then every month until the end of the cluster period.
Emgality belongs to a class of drugs known as calcitonin gene-related peptide antibodies. Drugs in this class are either targeted against CGRP receptors or against CGRP itself.
Q: Whos More Likely To Get Tension Headaches
A: Men and women, young and old, are all equally at risk. The most significant cause is feeling stressed or overwhelmed so a person who has a high-stress job or works long hours may be more susceptible. And people who are prone to depression, anxiety or sleep disorders are also more likely to experience tension headaches.
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Q: Can Tension Headaches Be Prevented
A: Yes! Because of their strong link to stress, take thesesteps to prevent or minimize the severity of tension headaches:
- Drink water: Dehydration can increase headache severity, so drink eight glasses of water each day.
- Exercise: Physical activity produces brain chemicals that are natural painkillers. Exercise also leads to improved sleep.
- Gentle stretches: Yoga and tai chi both blend relaxation, breathing and stretching to reduce stress levels.
- Good sleep hygiene: Improve your sleep by minimizing daytime naps, avoiding caffeine or alcohol close to bedtime, getting exercise and avoiding electronic devices before bed.
- Massage: Whether you prefer a light touch or deep-tissue work, massage helps relieve built-up muscle tension in the shoulders, neck and scalp.
- Mindfulness: Using your breath as a guide to keep your thoughts in the present can help reduce overall stress and pain.
What To Do If You Have Frequent Or Severe Tension Headaches
While tension headaches are not a serious medical condition, they can be very painful and interfere with your daily life. If you have frequent or severe tension headaches, seek help from a doctor. You may need to combine lifestyle changes and natural remedies to secure lasting relief from this pain. You can also avoid triggering a tension headache by steering clear of the following:
- Sleeping on your back, stomach, or side
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Use Meds In Moderation
Pharmacy shelves are stocked with pain relievers for all kinds of headaches. To get the most benefit with the least risk, follow the directions on the label and these guidelines:
- Choose liquid over pills. Your body absorbs it faster.
- Avoid ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs if you have heart failure or kidney failure.
- Do not give aspirin to a child under age 18.
- Take painkillers as soon as you start to hurt. Youâll probably beat it with a smaller dose than if you wait.
- If you get sick to your stomach when you get a headache, ask your doctor what might help.
- Ask your doctor what to take to avoid a rebound headache, which is pain that sets in after a few days of pain relievers.
And be sure to talk to your doctor about what headache symptoms you should not treat at home.