Tensor headache is a spasm of the facial or occipital muscles, accompanied by swelling and impaired blood flow. As you know, the bloodstream carries oxygen and useful trace elements that ensure the normal functioning of the brain. If the muscle spasm caused by tensor headache lasts 3-4 days or more, then the brain begins to experience a lack of oxygen and other substances, which negatively affects its work.
All this is accompanied not only by constant pain of varying intensity, but also by other unpleasant manifestations, such as nausea, dizziness and even loss of consciousness. Thus, the question of tensor headache, what does it mean, is very important, and every person should know how to properly treat this condition.
Causes of pain
Tensor headache starts strongnervous or mental stress. And such a state can cause any unpleasant event at work and at home. For some, a strong stress is moving to a new place of residence or repairing an apartment. And for another person, a career is important, he is traumatized by a conflict at work or even dismissal.
Tensor headache is often caused by emotional trauma associated with the death of a relative or friend. Or it could be parting with a lover or a quarrel with him.
Weakness, headache, may be the result of lack of sleep caused by an uncomfortable pillow or bed, excitement on the eve of an important event, and so on.
And the harder the thoughts and situations, the longer the person is in pain. The more it becomes more and more powerful.
Physical discomfort can also cause headache symptoms: heaviness in the back of the head and face, numbness in the cheeks and swelling of the eyelids. This can be caused by a power failure, food poisoning, loud noise or bright lights. That is why it is recommended to sleep in the dark and in silence.
Tensor headache symptoms
It should be understood that this type of disease is unique. Therefore, what is a tensor headache, the symptoms that accompany it, is being studied to this day.
Pain is now established to be chronic. This attack lasts up to 2 months. But most often it passes in 30-60 minutes.
Spasm occurs for no apparent reason. It is manifested by a pulsation in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Sometimes the pain feels like a steel band around the forehead.
Man frompain becomes distracted, depressed, his mood deteriorates. Loud noise, music, laughter, bright lights start to annoy him, he feels tired, although he could have rested or just slept before.
Under the influence of pain, a person's thoughts are confused, consciousness is clouded. Feeling one or more of these symptoms, you need not only to take measures to relieve pain and spasm, but also to identify the cause of its occurrence. Then the treatment will not consist in suppressing the symptoms, but in eliminating the cause of the appearance of the pathology.
Diagnosis of the origin of tensor pain
In order to prescribe an effective treatment, the doctor needs to find out the origin of tensor pain. To do this, the patient undergoes a series of instrumental and laboratory studies. Computed tomography of the cervical spine allows you to confirm or refute osteochondrosis, which causes pain in the neck and neck. If it is not possible to use CT, then a more common method is used - radiography.
Magnetic resonance imaging detects the presence of blood clots or spasms in the vessels of the brain, which has its own special treatment.
To get a complete picture of the patient, they can be sent for angiography - the study of cerebral vessels using special equipment and the introduction of radioactive barium into the blood. In general, the treatment of headaches is prescribed by a neurologist based on the research obtained.
First aid for tensor pains
Man,suffering from this ailment, he knows perfectly well which headaches are stronger. Those that he experiences often deprive him of the will and desire to live. And if mild depression or a bad mood led to an attack, everything can turn into a nervous breakdown. Therefore, it is very important to suppress the first manifestations of a headache. To do this, you can take the usual drug in the required dose. But it's best to calm down, lie down under an open window with fresh air, turn off the lights and turn off the sound source.
You can take a hot bath with fragrances, foam and sea s alt. This measure will not only relieve the spasm of the neck muscles, but also calm the nerves, restore good mood and good spirits. This treatment can be turned into prevention by taking a bath after a hard and stressful day at work.
Treatment of tensor pain with medicines
Any medical treatment should be prescribed by a doctor. If the attacks have become regular, then in this case you need to take only those drugs that the specialist previously prescribed.
First of all, you need to relieve the pain. For this, Aspirin, Analgin, Citromon, Paracetamol are taken at the dosage indicated by the doctor. These drugs have strong side effects, and this must be taken into account when taking them uncontrolled.
Severe neck headache is treated with Ultramol, Baralgin or No-shpa. In this case, it is the muscle spasm that is removed. And a severe occipital headache caused by vasospasm is treated with painkillers such as Pentalgin or Baralgin.
Next, the very cause of the occurrence is eliminatedheadache. If it was chronic stress and nervous tension, then the patient takes a course of treatment with antidepressants, for example, Fluoxetine or Sertraline. They must be prescribed by a psychotherapist, they cannot be purchased at a pharmacy without a prescription.
This drug therapy is contraindicated in pregnant women and nursing mothers, in which case doctors are looking for alternative treatments.
Traditional medicine
You can relieve an attack of tensor headache with hot tea with the addition of various medicinal plants or honey to it. Of great importance is not only what kind of herbs were added to tea, but the tea ceremony itself. She does not tolerate fuss, in the process of brewing tea, preparing dishes and surroundings for tea drinking, a person calms the nerves. And if tea drinking takes place in a pleasant company, then stress and depression leave a person, and, accordingly, the headache disappears.
In tea, you can add mint, chamomile, propolis, honey, lemon, raspberry or currant leaf. All to taste. These plants help not only the nervous system, but also have a beneficial effect on human digestion.
Gymnastics
Since a spasm in the neck is usually the result of a person being in one position for a long time, for example, driving a car or using a computer, the treatment of a headache consists in conducting therapeutic exercises.
To do this, you need to sit up straight, straighten your back, put your hands on your knees and do a fewexercise:
- Lower your head low and try to touch your chest with your chin, stay in this state for a few seconds. Then raise the chin as high as possible, with the back of the head reaching for the back, also for a few seconds. Such slopes need to be done 5-10 times in each direction.
- The next exercise repeats the first, only the head tilts first to the right, then to the left, while the ear drops as far as possible down to the shoulder. At the same time, the shoulders are motionless and lowered. You need to repeat the exercise 5-10 times in each direction.
- Rotation. The head slowly rotates 5 times clockwise and 5 times counterclockwise.
- You need to rest your hands on the back of your head and press hard on them, while your hands do not allow your head to lean back. So you need to strain your muscles for 5-10 seconds. Then move the hands to the forehead and do the exercise with tension again, but this time, pressing on the hands with the forehead.
Gymnastics should be done at least 3 times during the working day. It takes a little time, at most 10-15 minutes. But it will help relieve headaches caused by immobility.
Physiotherapy
In some cases, physiotherapy helps a person well. It is prescribed by a doctor based on the results of diagnosing the causes of pain. It is carried out in specialized clinics and he alth centers.
Usually this is electrophoresis, paraffin bath on the neck, magnetotherapy. A prerequisite for such treatment is its continuity. The course cannot be stopped and shortened,otherwise the therapy will be ineffective.
Prevention
In order to prevent the appearance of tensor headaches in your life, you should try to avoid the causes of its occurrence. For this you need:
- Eat properly and fully. The cause of the headache is a strict vegetarian diet, a mono-diet, a fruitarian diet, in a word, a gross violation of the usual and complete diet. No need for extremes. It is necessary to monitor your diet, but you also need to understand that the body needs a variety of substances, including animal protein. You just need to avoid really junk food: fried fatty meats, foods with preservatives and artificial colors, drinks with a lot of sugar, rich pastries. And the main enemy of he alth is alcohol.
- You need to develop the habit of exercising. Even if it's just a daily jog or walk. The main thing is to exercise regularly. This will not only increase stress resistance, but also strengthen the body's immune system.
- In order not to miss the beginning of any pathology in the body, it is necessary to undergo a complete medical examination at least 2 times a year. With the study of the work of internal organs using ultrasound and checking for the presence of parasites in the body.
Conclusion
Tensor headache can be a source of many problems. It does not allow a person to fully live and think. In any case, you need to consult a specialist, because onlya qualified doctor can find the true cause and eliminate it.
