A headache’s most common form is tension, which is a type of pain that isn’t well understood by scientists. This is likely because there appears to be no clear cause for a tension headache occurring. Although once someone suffers the uncomfortable pain — a feeling, which is described as being similar to a tight band being wrapped around the head — the cause is not as important as the treatment.
Lasting anywhere from a half-hour to a week, tension headaches are marked by a dull ache or tight feeling in the forehead or at the sides and back of your head. How severe the headache is will vary from one person to the next, although for most it begins in the morning, not too long after the alarm clock chimes. For the unfortunate sufferers, chronic headaches can occur 15 or more days each month and it’s a situation that can last for years. Thankfully, there are ways to manage and treat tension headaches.
A new report says that patients with chronic tension headaches can treat the problem with a long-term solution that does not involve expensive drugs. And that is important, as experts believe frequently using pain medications could actually trigger chronic headaches. So the researchers suggest that you put down the bottle of painkillers and try one of three alternative therapies: relaxation training, acupuncture, or physical exercise.
The study randomly assigned 90 people with chronic tension headaches to one of those three therapies. The participants were well acquainted with the frustrating condition, having suffered the headaches for an average of seven straight years. Results were obtained through detailed diaries that each participant kept, before, during, and up to a half-year after the treatment concluded.
1) Acupuncture entailed the use of 10 to 12 needles for 30 minutes. They were placed in the correct spots, according to Chinese medicine, and lasted for 10 to 12 weeks (one session a week).
2) Exercise included five workouts focused on the shoulder and neck muscles, repeated 100 times. It also called for stretching and cycling that measured muscle use.
3) In relaxation training, participants learned breathing techniques, how to cope with stress in a healthy way, and tips on relaxing both during activity and during the daily grind.
While the third therapy had the greatest benefit, all of them were successful strategies for managing tension headaches over the long term — which is, of course, key to any chronic problem. Acupuncture reduced headache intensity both at three and six months after treatment; relaxation training significantly reduced headache intensity and frequency at three and six months; and physical exercise reduced headache intensity and led to more time free of headaches immediately after treatment, and six months later.
These are three great options for anyone with a tension headache tendency — and researchers say that combining all three could likely provide the best outcome.
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Tags: exercise, headaches
