JGI / Jamie Grill / Getty Images
What Is a Tension Headache?
Sufferers describe them as feeling like a band around their heads.
The headaches may also be chronic in nature, for around three percentof the population.
JGI / Jamie Grill / Getty Images
There are two different types of tension headaches.
There are two schools of thought about the cause of tension-pop in headaches.
One is that the headaches cause muscle tension.
The other posits that muscle tension causes tension headaches.
(Either way, muscle tension is present in 70%of those with tension headaches).
Earlier researchshowed that tensionheadacheswere a result of the muscles in the head and neck tensing up.
In fact, they were even called a muscle-contraction headache.
A more recent studypoints to this muscle-contraction theory potentially not holding water.
Despite the freezing of the muscles, participants didnt see any significant decreases in their headaches.
They become more sensitized and dysregulated, saysDr.
Jennifer Robblee, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Jan & Tom Lewis Migraine Treatment Program, Barrow Neurological Institute.
There is a high rate of overlap between people with mood disorders and people who deal with tension headaches.
There is a theorythat some tension headaches may be thephysical manifestations of psychological distress.
How Are Tension Headaches Treated?
Theres actually a condition calledcephalalgiaphobia,which is the fear of having a headache while in a pain-free state.
Pain is not just a physical sensation, says Dr. Robblee.
Theres also an emotional component to it.
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