Definitions, Concepts and Meanings Tension headache

Tension headache definition

The word headache means headache, however since this symptom may be due for a variety of reasons there are many types of headache, being one of the most frequent forms of tension-type headache.
This type of headache is located on the back of the skull and may radiate from there up to the front or the back of the eyes. It is usually described by who suffers from it as a sensation of tightness or tension, as if it had a weight in the neck or even as had head a tight helmet.

Why does the headache?

This type of headache is due to the tension of the muscle groups that are of the skull, which jointly affect the muscles of the cervical spine in various situations, especially in those that exist tension on these muscles or efforts by poor posture.
One of the most commonly related to the development of a tension headache is the work by long time front of the computer, especially if this is does not carry out in the correct posture which is common when working with devices such as the laptop that force to bend the neck to view the display well.

How to recognize a tension headache

Before a chronic headache usually think in general that it's a migraine, however not all headache is migraine and you could say that the headache is more frequent.
Migraine has a classical distribution in the middle of the skull, is described as a heartbeat and is accompanied by nausea and vomiting, photophobia, something very characteristic is that migraine is presented as a crisis that lasts from a few hours to two or three days and disappear completely until the next episode, tension-type headache affects to the whole head It is a pressure and if it is not treated properly it can last several days or even weeks.

What to do before a tension headache

Since this type of headache is related to tension in the regional muscles your treatment is based on the use of anti-inflammatory medications combined with relaxing muscle.
Non-pharmacological measures are also very useful and cover mainly the local moist heat application and realization of stretching exercises, which should be carried out as part of a rehabilitation program.
Another important point is to take care of the postures and pausing every two hours to stretch, even a correct posture held by a long period of time can cause strain on the muscles and encourage the emergence of a tension headache.