|
|
| Pressure Points
|
| Your headache may be more than just an episode of muscle contraction. Chronic occurrences of tension-related pain can mask a serious underlying emotional problem related to anxiety, stress, depression and life circumstance.
|
Like the proverbial albatross, it feels like a weight around your neck that spreads in bands of steady pain enveloping your whole head. Sometimes the ache and pressure confines itself to one particular spot—the forehead, back of the head or neck, the temples.
“The terms ‘muscle contraction’ and ‘tension headaches’ have been used interchangeably for several years,” notes renowned headache expert Dr. Seymour Diamond, Chicago-based founder and director of the Diamond Headache Clinic Research and Educational Foundation, editor of Headache and Pain magazine and author of Diagnosing and Managing Headaches, a clinician’s resource book.
“Tension-type headaches are recurrent episodes of headache that can last minutes or days. Physiologically they express themselves as reflex dilatation of the external cranial vessels and contraction of the skeletal muscles of the neck, head and face. Pain severity
|
|
|
tends to be mild to moderate in severity and bilateral in location.”
Women generally suffer more from tension-type headaches than men, with episodes typically beginning between the ages of 20 and 40 years old.
According to Dr. Diamond, the tension-type headache, which can migrate to the shoulders, is a manifestation of the body’s response to stress, anxiety, depression, emotional conflicts, fatigue and repressed hostility.
Some researchers think there may be a brain-chemical component that might work in combination with tightened muscles to produce the tension-type headache—although no one knows which comes first, chemical interaction or muscle contraction.
Tension headaches appear to show some familial association—if you have them chances are your siblings do too, although the reason for the connection remains unresolved.
You can experience tension-type headaches in two ways—episodically or chronically—the latter occurring at least 15 days a month for six months.
The occasional tension-type headache often responds well to over-the-counter pain killers—sometimes, however, a prescription is in order and will usually do the trick.
Applying a heating pad or ice pack to your shoulder and neck muscles can be helpful and it makes sense to consistently practice relaxation therapies such as meditation or undergo massage to relieve some of the triggers generating muscle contraction.
According to Dr. Diamond, chronic tension-type headaches frequently reflect an underlying psychological conflict such as anxiety or depression that may arise from life stresses, occupation, habits, personality traits, marital, social or sexual problems and the ways in which we choose to cope with stress.
Chronic tension-type headaches associated with underlying depression can occur in conjunction with other physical symptoms such as sleep disturbance, weight loss, fatigue, palpations, decreased sexual drive, and shortness of breath.
“Patients may also experience emotional and psychic complaints—guilt, hopelessness, unworthiness, fear of physical disease or death, poor concentration, low ambition, loss of interest, poor memory, etc.,” adds Dr. Diamond.
Chronic tension-type headaches may have their origins in a specific event or occurrence—the death of a loved one, an accident or illness or divorce.
And all this time you thought it was just a pain in the neck!
Adopting a healthy way of life—regular aerobic activity in combination with good eating and sleeping habits along with consistent efforts at stress management, improved posture and increasing relaxation time may also prove effective in relieving and preventing tension-type headaches.
Haven’t got time for the pain?
Dr. Diamond suggests the following to relieve episodic tension-type headache pain:
- Aspirin
- Acetaminophen
- Ibuprofen
- Naproxen sodium
- Ketoprofen
- Caffeine in combination with Ibuprofen—the amount of caffeine is equivalent to two large cups of coffee
“Biofeedback has also demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of chronic, tension-type headaches,” says Dr. Diamond. “Tricyclic antidepressants and psychological counseling may be indicated in those patients with severe depression.”
Relief Map:
Results of an Australian double cross-over study conducted by researcher Charlie Xue, PhD at RMIT University in Bundoora, Victoria, Australia, suggest that electroacupuncture applied to distal (locations away from the center of the body) acupoints may be an effective way to treat tension headaches.
Forty people, mostly women, average age 42, sharing similar baseline statistics were divided into two groups one receiving real electroacupuncture applied to distal areas on upper and lower limbs; the other undergoing a form of simulated treatment.
“Our study demonstrated that EA was effective for patients with TTH measured by pain intensity, frequency etc.,” says Dr. Xue.
“Chronic TTH patients should consider EA as an option. Initially they should consider having EA twice per week for four weeks, then consider the treatment again depending on the recurring and severity of the symptoms. Note that our study demonstrated that there was significant difference between baseline and end of three months follow-up for both groups.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
