Tension headaches are most likely the most frequent form of headache. They do not discriminate by age category, but are most common among teenagers and adults. Tension headaches can occur whenever you participate in any activity that causes you to hold your head in one position for a lengthy time period without much movement.
What to do?
If I sit near the front of a movie theater and need to look up in the display, it necessarily causes me to have a tension headache.
- Shrug your shoulders. In either a sitting or standing position, consciously relax the muscles of your body. Next, take a deep breath in and contract your shoulder muscles, pulling upward your shoulders toward your ears. Hold this contraction for many seconds. Next, exhale and abruptly release all muscle strain, letting your shoulders fall quickly. Repeat this process many times.
- Try rhythmic breathing. Whenever we are stressed we tend to take short, shallow breaths. It’s a natural response to stress and almost everyone does it. However, this sort of breathing raises the amount of carbon dioxide in the human body and dilates blood vessels in your head which may lead to headache pain. Next time you feel stressed, inhale slowly through your nose to the count of five, then exhale slowly through your mouth and count to five again. Repeat this process 10 to 12 times.
- Use compresses. Try applying either cold or heat to some part of your mind that’s damaging, or to your brow. It’s up to you as to whether to use heat or cold. Personally, I prefer heat because heat helps the muscles to relax faster than an ice pack. However, if you would rather cold, make sure you wrap the ice pack in a cloth before placing it on your skin.
- Use your finger tips to place pressure on your temples. Use this technique once you feel a headache coming on. Place your index and middle fingers of the hands on the outside edges of the eyebrows and in your temples. Then rub your fingers in small circles with a decent amount of pressure for many seconds. Then press your fingers and hold for four or five seconds longer, then release and repeat the procedure.
- Stop a hassle before it starts. Do some sort of exercise daily. Try Yoga if you’ve got frequent tension headaches, as relaxation and stress reduction are the principal focus of the practice of Yoga. If you prefer, have a brisk walk. This can help to eliminate, or reduce, your level of anxiety. Stress reduction is a primary key to preventing and treating headaches.
