Headache - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Headache is the pain of internal aching that occurs in one or more areas of the head, face, mouth, or neck. Headache back of the upper neck may also be interpreted . Headache, like chest pain or dizziness. Headache s are the two type primary headaches and secondary. Primary headache is also consist of four type: vascular, muscle contraction (tension), traction, and inflammatory. Women are more likely than men to have migraine headaches.

But headache without any other associatedsymptoms is most commonly of the tension or muscle contraction type in which, usually as the result of emotional or other stress but sometimes because of strained posture (as in driving in a rainstorm, for example), neck, and scalp, and even jaw musclesmay go into spasm. For such headaches, aspirin is often helpful, especially if coupled with other measures such as massage or heat applied to the back of the neck and resting with eyes closed and the head supported. Other kinds of vascular headaches include "cluster" headaches, which cause repeated episodes of intense pain, and headaches resulting from high blood pressure. Muscle contraction headaches appear to involve the tightening or tensing of facial and neck muscles. Headaches, of course,can accompany many diseases along with other symptoms, such as fever, muscle aches and pains in flu.

Headaches involve mild to severe pain in one or more parts of the head . There are many different types of headache patterns and a variety of causes. While painful and annoying, the majority of headaches do not indicate a serious disorder and, in non-chronic cases, may be relieved by medicines and/or changes in lifestyle. Recently, for some sufferers with often-repeated tension headaches, biofeedback has been found useful. If you belong in this category, you may want to try feedback, which essentially is a method of relaxation now being offered in many hospital headache clinics. Typically, electrodes are placed on the forehead (a totally painless procedure) to record muscle tension. With tension level high, the biofeedback equipment may emit rapid beeps. As tension is reduced the beeps come more slowly.And as you learn-in some fashion difficult to explain to make the beeps slow down, with the aid of the biofeedback equipment, you note what you are doing to achieve the feat and then may be able to reproduce it without the equipment, as a means of stopping a headache before it has time to really get started.

Causes of the headache

During the first time headache migraine attack, the temporal artery enlarges. Migraine attacks commonly activate the sympathetic nervous system in the body. Also cause ofranging from eye strain , sinusitis and tension to life-threatening conditions such as encephalitis , meningitis , cerebral aneurysms and brain Physical and mental conditions that can lead to chronic muscular tension and headache include:

• Arthritis in neck or spine
• Degenerative bone or disk disease in the neck or spine
• Depression
• Temporomandibular joint disorders .

Also causes of the Migraine is the cause of 20 per cent of all headaches. Below are some of the factors that have been identified as being associated with migraines:

• family history of migraine.
• prolonged muscle tension and stress .
• alcohol use.
• smoking or exposure to tobacco smoke.
• lack of sleep .
• for women, menstrual periods and the use of oral contraceptives .

Symptoms of the headache

Tension headaches often begin in the back of the head and upper neck as a band-like tightness or pressure. Tension headaches are not associated with an aura and are seldom associated with nausea, vomiting, or sensitivity to light and sound. A migraine headache usually is aggravated by daily activities like walking upstairs. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea , facial pallor, cold hands, cold feet, and sensitivity to light and sound commonly accompany migraine headaches.

• Sensitivity to loud noises and light.
• Pain may also be situated in the back of the head and neck and feel like a 'tight band'.
• Sometimes accompanied by muscle tightness in back of neck.
• Some people pace the floor and move about, unable to find relief.
• The chemicals cause inflammation, pain, and further enlargement of the artery. The increasing enlargement of the artery magnifies the pain.