What are Tension Headaches?

Tension headaches are the most common forms of headache. Painkilling medicines can often work well to cure them; however, managing lifestyle factors, like mental stress, body posture and regular exercise, help to prevent tension headaches. Tension headaches turn into episodic tension headaches if they occur for more than 2 weeks in a month. They are called chronic tension headaches if they occur daily.

Symptoms

Tension headaches are felt in a band of pain across the forehead or back of the head. They last from few hours to several days. They make a person irritable and exhausted but usually do not disturb sleep. Most people continue to work with a tension headache, as they do not worsen due to physical activity. However, the person can get heightened sensitivity to bright light or noise.

Tension headaches tend to be mildest in the morning and worsen as the day progresses. The pain is usually moderate and felt on both sides of the head. It is felt by most people in the forehead or around the back of the head and top of the neck.

These headaches hamper mental concentration, and worsen by exertion, tiredness, mental anxiety and hunger. It is especially bad when one is working long hours in front of a computer. Tension headaches can also get triggered if one drinks excess amounts of coffee (caffeine) or alcohol, hence drinking water is important to keep these headaches at bay.

Causes

There is no clear cause for tension headaches. It can be attributed to any or some of the causes mentioned below,

• Muscular tension and physical exertion
• Emotional tension, anxiety, mental stress
• Eye strain for long hours
• Hunger
• Environmental factors like bright sunlight, excessive temperature (cold or heat), loud noise

The family history and genetic make-up are also strong factors that make one prone to headaches. It is proven that one inherits a tendency to be more prone to tension headaches from their ancestors. A high temperature (fever) may also cause a similar headache.

Caffeine withdrawal headache is another similar headache caused to people who are heavy drinkers of coffee.

Risks and Complications

Overuse of medication- like painkillers or triptan for tension headaches, in turn makes the head extremely sensitive to pain, which is felt all the time. It is advised to visit your doctor who will diagnose and prescribe the appropriate dose of medication.

When to visit your doctor for headaches

Most tension headaches do not have an underlying cause. Your doctor will try to diagnose the underlying cause, if any, and check for conditions such as,

• Any head injury in the last three months
• Signs of high temperature (fever)
• If the headaches start suddenly
• Any problems with speech and balance of body
• Problems with memory or changes in personality
• If the headache starts after coughing or sneezing
• Any redness or pain in eyes
• Is it accompanied with nausea & vomiting with the headache
• You have low immunity, in cases of HIV or oral steroid medication

How to avoid Tension headaches

Making changes in Lifestyle
Include a regular form of physical activity in your daily routine, like a brisk walk or light exercise. A neck and shoulder massage helps to improve blood circulation. A warm pad on your neck or a hot bath also helps ease the headaches. Increase the intake of water and reduce the amount of coffee in your daily diet. Avoid high sugary meals and include salads in your meals.

Check the hight of your pillows, as sleeping on high pillows bends the neck and causes pain. Sleep is a particularly good preventive for tension headaches and hence should be regular and minimum uninterrupted duration of 6 to 9 hours

Improve the lighting in your house or office, as reading in low light for long periods may also lead to tension headaches.

Painkillers
Painkillers are known to ease tension headaches but should not be taken for more than 3 days in a row. One should visit a doctor if the need for painkillers is more profound. Medication-overuse headache (medication-induced headache) can be induced instead of curing the tension headaches.

Common painkillers that can help are:

1. Paracetamol: a full dose of this should be taken as soon as a headache starts, and the second dose should only be taken after four hours if necessary. It is sufficient to cure all kinds of mild headaches and the person often feels relieved after two doses.
2. Alternatives to paracetamol, like anti-inflammatory painkillers are also recommended. Drugs like ibuprofen, diclofenac and naproxen are useful to cure headaches. The side effects of these maybe a minor upset stomach, if taken in moderation.
3. Aspirin is another widely used drug to cure headaches. These days doctors do not generally recommend aspirin because of its side-effects of stomach troubles. Children under the age of 16 years should not take aspirin.
4. It is advised to avoid codeine-based medications as these can often lead to worsening of symptoms.

Prevention of tension headaches

Regular exercise
People claim they have less frequent headaches once they start to exercise regularly. Brisk walking, jogging, cycling, or swimming helps to ease stress and tension. This helps in maintaining a healthy blood circulation and drastically reduces the tension headaches. One must also improve their posture while at work and keep neck muscle tension at minimum levels.

Maintaining a Diary
It is advised to keep a diary or a journal to make notes on the trigger for headaches. Note down when, where, and how the headache occurred and the duration. After a while you will notice a pattern and the major triggers will emerge from the data. Common triggers like hunger, eye strain, bad posture, stress, anger can then be avoided to keep the headache away.

Stress
Stress is the biggest trigger for tension headaches. It is hence advised to avoid all stressful Situations where possible! Coping mechanisms for stress can be learned via counselling which will help one to stay relaxed. Breathing and relaxation exercises ease anxiety in stressful situations. Gentle soothing music is also useful for keeping the stress levels low.

Preventative Medications
There are medications available to try to prevent tension headaches. These can be prescribed if the basic measures are not working, and the tension headaches are present for more than 2 days per week.

Alternative therapies
Occasionally some people benefit from using a TENS machine, acupuncture, and even cognitive behavioural therapy.

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