A Stress Headache Is Exactly That

Headaches. We’ve all had them at some time or other. It doesn’t matter if it is a stress headache or a full blown migraine, they affect millions of people daily. While some are caused by lack of sleep and others by lack of food, some have origins in darker places and can lead to a variety of other disorders. Preventing headaches is the only true cure for headaches; while pills and medications can help relieve the symptoms of headaches, daily suffering can quickly drag a person down. The majority of headaches are a type of stress headache, or tension headache. Almost 80% of adults experience these types of headaches at least occasionally, but for many men and women, remembering a day where they did not experience them is impossible.

For many people, a stress headache is a regular afternoon visitor, a sign of a larger chronic cycle. For others, the headaches occur infrequently, but even these rare episodes can be painful. A stress headache is not hereditary, nor is it a stand-alone issue. Many of these aches can be caused by tightened muscles in the neck, while others cause those muscles to tighten. The one common denominator among all tension headaches is their undeniable tie to the environment. As the name states, a stress headache is caused by stress. From family and social relationships to work and school, stress weighs heavily on the body, and when the body breaks, the head is the first to feel the pressure. When the stresses mount up daily, occasional headaches can quickly become chronic.

Stress Headache Characteristics

A stress headache can last from 30 minutes to 24 hours, and is usually experienced as a constant, painful pressure. While migraines can lead to throbbing, vomiting and sensitivity to sound and light, tension headaches are rarely as severe. A stress headache is characterized by muscle aches, fatigue, insomnia, irritability, disturbed concentration and sometimes some mild light sensitivity or occasional dizziness. In some cases, an individual may wake up with a stress headache, but they usually develops during the day.

While pain relievers are often used to treat a stress headache, the best medicine is prevention. Stress management and therapy can help individuals deal with the issues in their lives that lead to tension headaches, and hopefully, over time, when those problems are solved, the headaches will disappear as well. Remaining in the cycle of chronic tension headaches is unhealthy; while the headaches themselves may not cause further damage, the other symptoms can. With lack of sleep and irritability comes more stress, and with more stress comes more headaches; once in this pattern, an individual can quickly spiral into more severe depressions.