Tension Headaches
By worldwise1
@worldwise1 (14885)
United States
May 5, 2008 11:15am CST
I am one of those people who are prone to tension headaches. I believe they are caused by my inability to totally relax most of the time. Sometimes I can literally feel the muscles when they become bunched up in my neck and shoulder areas. Do you suffer from tension headaches? Have you found an effective way to deal with them? These helpful tips came to me by way of a health newsletter that I subscribe to:
Health E-Hints
How to Tame a Tension Headache
You might be familiar with the taut muscles and throbbing pain of a tension headache. They're often triggered by stress or anxiety—which means it can be hard to prevent them from occurring.
But the U.S. National Library of Medicine suggests these tips to help you tame a tension headache:
* Try to control stress with exercise, meditation or yoga.
* Get plenty of sleep each night.
* Gently massage sore muscles in your upper back, neck or head.
* Know what causes headaches for you—such as cold temperatures—and try to avoid these conditions.
* Try sleeping with a different pillow, or in a different position.
* Exercise your neck and shoulders often, especially when you type, read or work for hours at a computer.
2 people like this
16 responses
@Leandco (16)
• United States
5 May 08
I have some helpful hints that may help! 1.) Diet- make sure you are eating only organic, raw, pure, unrefined foods. Our foods these days are process with so many preservatives and chemicals that cause our internal chemistry to become unbalanced. 2.) Drink water... and lots of it. Drinking water is important because it cleanses our bodies of toxins. 3.) Exercise- when you get headaches there is a surplus of chemicals in the brain and by burning a sweat you reduce the level of these chemicals. 4.) Aromatherapy- lavendar is known for relaxing/sleeping and Eucylptus is also known for its calming/relaxing ability.
5.) Acupuncture 6.) Reflexology 7.) Try a detox/juice fast- wether you do a colon cleanse, whole body cleanse, or juice fast, this is a great way to get your health on track!
you can buy organic food and juices at www.le-co.amazonwebstore.com This store is full of great products from food, herbs, clothing, books, dvds, candles skincare etc to help you get healthy and live green!
GOOD LUCK and GOOD HEALTH
@jdyrj777 (6530)
• United States
6 May 08
Good luck with releaving stress! What i have to say may not help much. I also used to have horrible headaches on a daily basis. Nothing seemed to help. Today my kids are grown and moved away and im single. I dont have a lot of responseality except to myself. I rarely have a headache now. Unless i strain my eyes from being on computer too long.
@carolbee (16230)
• United States
6 May 08
I am fortunate that I don't have tension headaches. Most often my headaches are caused from sinus or extreme weather changes. In the St. Louis area we do have crazy, damp weather on a regular basis. A few years ago I bought a foam, concave pillow that supports the neck and back. It does help to relieve tight muscles and keeps my neck in line with the rest of my body throughout the night. It wasn't a cureall but does help. I have back issues and do notice when I am tense, the muscles really tighten and cause my hip to ache. I sit at the computer for short periods and make sure to get up and move around throughout the day. Keeps me also from getting stiff.
@asawanialvin0611 (1877)
• Philippines
6 May 08
Rest is the number 1 relief of headaches like this.Avoid caffeine also.Try taking ascorbic acid once daily to relieve stress
@kiran1978 (4134)
• Australia
6 May 08
Yes I get tension headaches a fair bit lately. I think mine is triggered by lask of sleep, not enough water and sore neck and shoulders. I am having hardly enough sleep with new baby, I noticed my headaches are getting worse. The maint thing that works for me is taking a nurophen to get rid of it. Sometimes I think having a relaxing bath helps too. Hope your tension headaches disappear soon and thank you for the great tips.
@oriental (1050)
• Uruguay
6 May 08
The tips from the National Library of Medicine are really good. In my case, most of the times headache comes after having been a long time at the computer. I try to relax and also move my shoulders up and down, as when saying "It does not matter to me what you say".
@hockeygal4ever (10021)
• United States
6 May 08
fresh lavender is a wonderful aromatherapy!!! tuck fresh lavender in your pillow to mellow you out.... it works well.
@Shaun72 (15959)
• Palatka, Florida
6 May 08
I just learned as a matter of fact that a lot of my headaces are proberly caused by Tension Headaces. Before I thought they were from sinus problems or migranes. I just started massage therapy this past Friday. The man that was massaging my neck told me that he wouldn't be surprized if I didn't get a lot of tension headaces. So thanks a lot for these tips on how to eaze them.
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
6 May 08
I think that is what I have been experiencing here lately. My head, neck and my ear and shoulder hurts me almost every day and it hurts even worse when I am working on the computer. I work on here seven days per week. I do not get very much rest either. I always have alot of work to do daily.
@chirantani (1379)
• India
6 May 08
Yes!! I used to have this problem of tension headaches. As a fast relief I used medicines, but now a days I don't face this problem, as I practice Yoga everyday.
@jing_ocampo (135)
• Philippines
6 May 08
This list is great! Thanks for sharing it. I've suffered from migraines and I think its from work-related stress. This list was really helpful.
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
5 May 08
yes hon, I have suffered from tension headaches all my life, with the fibromyalgia that I now have it is difficult to have a good night sleep and I live in a very cold house in the winter and not much I can do about that.
