Got a Headache? Know the Causes Behind
Headaches can encompass many things because there are different kinds of headaches. For instance, you can have tension/stress related headaches, migraine, cluster and rebound headaches. However, not too many people
Got a Headache? Know the Causes Behind
Headaches can encompass many things because there are different kinds of headaches. For instance, you can have tension/stress related headaches, migraine, cluster and rebound headaches. However, not too many people are aware of this compartmentalization; hence remedies are not as effective.
While medics say that a headache which happens once in a blue moon does not warrant a visit to the doctor, but if they get more frequent, it becomes imperative. Sometimes it can signify some deep underlying disease so a routine check up is necessary if you keep getting headaches.
But you donít have to go for an MRI or CT scan the minute you have headache. Do it only when specified by your doctor. To identify the kind of headache you have, you have to first understand in which area of the head the ache occurs, what is the frequency and what are the pre and post symptoms?
Tension - Stress headaches
High pressure lifestyles with demanding jobs and the desire to achieve all in a short while are the biggest culprits. While most young people who are balancing the demands of career and home have the largest frequency of tension headaches, these days even school students suffer from them prior to their exams.
Itís also called Muscular contraction headache where because you are tense and stressed out, your eye and neck muscles are taut and stretched out, causing you pain in the process.
Certain other factors can also precipitate such headaches, such as infrequent sleep pattern and erratic eating habits, coupled with emotional and physical stress. Usually, this happens mostly at the beginning of the day or at the end when muscles go into spasms after over use.
What was thought to be once a specialized condition, is today affecting every one in ten individuals. Migraine is also by and large precipitated by stress.
Though not everyone may have acute migraine, some may have to suffer much more. Itís important to know whether youíre actually suffering from migraine. Any headache that is accompanied by nausea is not migraine.
Mostly it is an ache on one side of the head. Sometimes it may change sides and there are times when itís accompanied by flashes of light. Also you have vomiting and nausea. Thereís also throbbing in the skull and the temples. And when it interferes with your day to day affairs, it requires investigation and medication.
Cluster and Rebound
Also called the Histamine headache, cluster headache is accompanied by one attack after another and can last several days, weeks or months and then disappear completely fo