Best Way to Handle Stress Headaches

From hot baths to cold ice packs and over the counter pain killers to antidepressants, finding the best way to handle stress headaches is the key to quick pain relief.

Massage neck muscles to relieve a stress headache.

The most common type of headache, a stress headache affects nine out of every ten people sometime during their life. Stress headache pain is generally a dull steady pain centered around the eyes, forehead, or temples. Sometimes the headache pain is felt throughout the entire head and scalp or centered at the back of the neck. It may feel like a tight band is squeezing your head or the pain may be a throbbing sensation across your entire head. During a stress headache the muscles at the back of your neck and upper back often feel tight and knotted. They are very tender when touched.

Stress headaches are commonly referred to as tension headaches. This type of headache is also known by the following names.

• Ordinary
• Muscle contraction
• Benign
• Idiopathic
• Depressive
• Psychogenic
• Essential

Just as stress headaches differ from person to person so do the best ways of handling them. For some people taking medication offers quick pain relief. For others a nap in a quiet dark room or a hot bath provides relief from the headache pain. Trying different methods and techniques that provide stress headache relief is the best way of determining what works the best for you.

There are many different medications, both over the counter and prescription, that provide relief from the pain of a stress headache. One of the most popular over the counter headache medications taken for stress headaches is ibuprofen. Ibuprofen is a non-steroid, anti-inflammatory drug sold as brand names including Motrin, Advil, and Nuprin. Other popular over-the-counter medications include aspirin and acetaminophen which include Tylenol.

Although only a small percentage of people suffering from stress headaches seek medical attention, those that do often are prescribed prescription drugs to combat their headache pain. Generally, these headache suffers have severe or chronic tension headaches. Prescription drugs commonly prescribed include:

• Analgesics - aspirin with codeine, Tylenol with codeine, Percodan and Fiorinal
• Tricyclic antidepressant - Elavil or Tofranil

Taking medication for headache pain does not cure the headache and should not be overused. Excessive use may cause drug dependency or rebound headaches to occur.

Many people find that the best way for them to handle their stress headaches involves home remedy techniques. Methods used to relax muscle tension are generally effective in reducing or eliminating headache pain. These methods include gentle massaging of the shoulder and neck muscles with the fingertips, applying a heating pad to the same area and taking a hot shower or bath. There are some people that suffer from stress headaches that find that an ice pack applied to the neck muscles are more effective for them then treatments using heat.

Using stress management techniques is another effective method used by many headache sufferers to ease the pain they feel. These techniques include:

• Deep breathing
• Biofeedback
• Behavior therapy

Another excellent and effective way of dealing with a stress headache is exercise. The exercise could be as simple as gently stretching your neck muscles by slowly rolling your head from side to side or around in a circle. As you perform this simple exercise you feel the muscles start to relax and your headache pain ease. Exercise could also include a brisk walk, a workout session or full body stretching exercises.

Often a stress headache will go away completely if you lay down and take a nap. It is best to do this is a dark quiet room.

• Acupuncture
• Aromatherapy
• Reflexology
• Chiropractic care
• Hypnotherapy
• Reiki
• Therapeutic Touch

Finding the best way to handle stress headaches means giving more then one technique or method a chance at providing you quick and effective pain relief.

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