Tension headaches, do you suffer from them?

Sub-occipital muscles

Tension headaches tend to be one of the most commonly treated complaints in chiropractic. They are also one of the most common types of headaches. Tension headaches are generally a result of prolonged contraction of the sub-occipital muscles.

So how do I know I may be suffering from tension headaches?

Signs and Symptoms of Tension Headaches

• Mild to moderate pain or pressure affecting the front, top or sides of the head
• Headache occurring later in the day
• Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep
• Chronic fatigue
• Irritability
• Disturbed concentration
• Mild sensitivity to light or noise
• General muscle aching

What may be causing your tension headaches?

Tension headaches are not hereditary and may be caused by  by tightened muscles in the back of the neck and scalp in some people. These types of headaches are usually triggered by family, social relationships, friends, work, and school.

• Inadequate rest
• Poor posture
• Emotional or mental stress, including depression
• Anxiety
• Fatigue
• Hunger
• Overexertion

Do you sit for long periods of time?  Work on a computer all day? These may also  be the cause of your headaches.

Tell Me More

More people today have jobs that require being seated for long periods of time, with no physical activity, which makes back and neck muscles stay contracted for a that duration of time. When muscles are contracted they burn fuel and produce waste. One of the wastes produced is lactic acid which is what makes you feel the "burn" after you've worked out. When these muscles are held contracted for a prolonged time (hours spent sitting or standing), they are producing irritative, toxic wastes, but not relaxing and draining themselves of these irritants. Over time these toxins can cause the muscles to lose their natural flexibility and resting length becoming stiffened and shortened. These stiffened and shortened muscles, usually accompanied by trigger points can cause reflex pain into the neck and head. So it is like a domino effect. Once the shortening and stiffness is onset, the joints in your spine are no longer supported as they should be. Because of this, subluxation or misalignment of the spine occurs. Subluxation causes strain and injury to the joints and supporting ligament tissue. The result of the combined subluxation, ligament strain and joint injury is often neck pain with associated headache.

Research and Results

There has been research done on the benefits of chiropractic care and tension headaches.

In 1996 a team of investigators at the University of Maryland were dissecting the region of the spine at the base of the skull in a manner atypical to the standard dissection technique for the neck. What they found was an undiscovered anatomical structure that connects the dura covering the spine at the level of the brain stem to a neck muscle that bridges between the skull and the spine. It is now realized that this structure has the potential to exert a tractioning pull on the dura resulting in neck pain and headache.

Their findings were reported in the "1998 Medical and Health Annual" printed by the Encyclopedia Brittannica. This publication states: "Spinal manipulation as a treatment for tension headache is predicated upon the assumption that dysfunction in the neck muscles contributes to (the) head pain: in the U.S. 90% of such procedures are performed by chiropractors. The muscle-dura connection may represent, at least in part, the underlying anatomic basis for the effectiveness of this treatment. Such treatment, as performed by a chiropractor, would decrease muscle tension and thereby reduce or eliminate pain by reducing the potential forces exerted on the dura via the muscle-dura connection."

So if you feel as if you are suffering from tension headaches, see a chiropractor. Chiropractic care is very affordable

"About 30%-80% of the adult U.S. population suffers from occasional tension headaches; approximately 3% suffer from chronic daily tension headaches. Women are twice as likely to suffer from tension-type headaches as men."