Tension Headaches, what causes them?
Tension headaches, are the most common types of headaches, affecting almost everyone at some point in life. With pain and tightness ranging from the neck, back, eyes and muscle groups in the face, the symptoms from a tension headache can vary from mild to severe.
On average, tension headache lasts between four to six hours, however, if severe can last for a few days. If you notice a tension headache for more than 6 hours, please visit your practitioner. A tension headache usually produces bilateral pain that is uniformly distributed on both sides of the head. A person with a tension headache often feels that his head is constantly under pressure as if it is being squeezed. Although these types of headaches usually do not interfere with one’s life, they can be quite debilitating.
Below, we will check out the major causes of tension headaches.
Causes of tension headaches.
• High-level stress
Tension headaches can be triggered by mental, emotional and physical stress. Today, the most common sources of stress typically come from the workplace, education, family, relationship, and financial problems. A tension headache can also be stimulated by isolated stressful situations or stress accumulation. Getting stressed regularly can build up to cause chronic tension headaches.
• Sleep Habits
If you sleep in a bad position, your back muscles will tighten, causing tension in the spine that can also cause headaches as well as neck pain. If you feel a slight headache after your night’s sleep, you might want to know if it is the back or neck that causes this pain.
• Inappropriate sitting position
Though different things may lead to tension headaches, most patients do one common thing: incorrect sitting posture while sitting at a desk or in a car. If you unconsciously contract the muscles of your neck due to inappropriate sitting habits, it may cause tension headaches. At Spine & Health, we can educate you on the best sitting posture with our Sitting, Sleeping workshop.
• Eye strain
Eye strain is as a result of stressing the eye muscles to get better focus. The eyes consist of many small muscles that help them move and lengthen or shorten the lenses. If the small eye muscles are working too hard, this situation can cause eye strain. Eye strain can ultimately lead to a tension headache. To prevent tension headaches caused by eye strain, you need to know how to avoid or reduce eye strain.
If you notice the symptoms of persistent tension headache, then you should consider visiting your healthcare practitioner.
