I received so many comments from the Thump. Thump. Thump post that I wanted to expand and provide you some additional information. Please note that this is not a copy from the earlier post…just some key facts have been duplicated.
Many people suffer from headaches time to time. Those are fairly common and are easy to manage. But according to WebMD 45 million people suffer from chronic headaches. Those are much more frequent and can be quite uncomfortable, annoying and in some instances, debilitating.
The Mayo Clinic states that Chronic Headaches are classified by the duration of them…more than 4 hours or less than 4 hours. The longer lasting are more common and are divided into 4 types:
- Chronic migraine
- Chronic tension-type headache
- New daily persistent headache
- Hemicrania continua
Of the above, Health24 says that the most common is the Chronic Tension-type Headache. These are caused by the stress in your shoulder and neck muscles.
But there are triggers, other than just stress. Some of those could be:
- Foods that you eat
- Hormones (mostly affects women)
- Lack of sleep
- Infection
- TMJ
- Alcohol
- Medicines
In some cases, the triggers are much more extreme and can be associated with illnesses such as brain tumor, etc.
When you get them, how do you get rid of them? Well you can:
Take over-the-counter headache medicine
Image from consumerreports.com
Get a prescription
Image from nickfalkner.wordpress.com
Lie down in a dark room with eyes closed
Image from gloriadean.blogspot.com
Get a massage for those that are caused by tension
Image from healingdeals.net
Exercise
Image from science.howstuffworks.com
Take Magnesium – Dr. Oz believes that magnesium relaxes arteries and muscles in the body.
Image from purematters.com
But if none of the above help, you can see a specialist. They can perform various tests such as a Stress Test and a CT Scan, just to name a few.
So obviously its important to take care of yourself to prevent these headaches by:
- Avoiding the triggers
- Avoid taking too much medication
- Get enough sleep
- Don’t skip meals
- Exercise
- Reduce the stress or relax – a little yoga might help 🙂
Hopefully you are not a chronic headache sufferer. But if you are, there are steps you can take to recognize the type, understand the trigger, manage the onset and potentially prevent them. Good luck!! And hopefully this has helped some.
If you have any comments or recommendations, please share with us.
