Most of us are aware of what a headache feels like. In fact, the most common type of headache is called Tension Type Headaches, which affect more than 80% of people every now and then. A tension headache presents itself like a band of pain wrapped around your forehead. You can blame your headache on extended period of time spent in front of the computer, avoiding meals or not sleeping enough.
However, that doesn’t really help you understand the source – does it originate from your head or is there something else at play?
PINPOINTING THE CAUSE OF COMMON HEADACHE PAIN
When you are down with a headache, you might be forced to think that the pain comes from your forehead or it has got something to do with your brain. But, you would be astounded to know that this is not always the case. We figured out that the source of headaches can actually be sprained muscles in your neck and head.
But how can a head or neck muscle be the source of your head hurting?
The reason can be the muscles in head/neck have tightened and strained. When this happens, tender knots end up developing in your muscles. These tender muscle knots send across pain signals to your brain. It is these pain signals from the muscle knots that ends up feeling as a tight band of pressure around your head. With above 30 different muscles in the neck and head, there’s a lot of room for headaches!
WAYS YOU CAN MANAGE HEADACHE PAIN
There are wide variety of things one can do to ease strained muscles in the head and neck – a source of tension type headaches.
Stress relief: If you are going through stress or a busy schedule, relaxation techniques like meditation or simple breathing exercises may assist in reducing stress and ease muscle tension. It also helps in maintaining an excellent work-life balance. Removing time to catch up with your friends or grabbing a quick power nap can bring stress-level back to normal.
Massage: Next time you fall victim to a nagging headache, the solution could be at your fingertips. Indulge in a gentle massage that will assist in soothing and relaxing the muscles in your head and neck.
Pain-relief medication: If you don’t want headache to ruin your productivity, you can take the help of over the counter pain killers that will give effective relief.