If you combine poor posture, stress, and repetitive activities, what would you get? Tension headaches. A tension headache can be a symptom of emotional distress and can result from a medical disorder like depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, and migraine.

Generally, one can experience tightness, dull pain, or pressure on the back neck or around the forehead. Tension headaches can also lead to other complications. For example, people with persistent headaches might find it difficult to focus on work and attend school regularly. Normally, people take pain relievers to ease their headaches, but there’s a much better solution to this.

Research shows that chiropractic care might be an effective remedy for headaches, especially if the pain originates in the neck. Here’s how chiropractic treatment helps alleviate tension headaches.

Causes And Symptoms Of Tension Headaches

Tension headaches are the most common type of headache. Muscle contractions or tightening in the neck and head regions cause tension headaches. And these spasms can be caused by different stressors, activities, or foods.

A few people suffer from tension headaches after driving or looking at a computer screen for several hours. Additionally, cold temperatures can cause a tension headache. The following are other known triggers of a tension headache:

• Skipping meals
• Lack of sleep
• Emotional stress
• Caffeine
• Poor posture
• Low water intake
• A flu
• A sinus infection
• Smoking
• Fatigue
• Eyestrain
• Dry eyes
• Alcohol

Moreover, the symptoms of tension headaches include the following:

• Tenderness in the scalp and around the forehead
• Pressure around the forehead
• Dull head pain
• Difficulty eating
• Sleep problems

Usually, pain is moderate or mild. However, it can be intense as well, and sometimes people confuse this with a migraine. But tension headaches do not include all the symptoms of migraines, like vomiting and nausea.

Chiropractic Treatment For Tension Headaches

If you often suffer from tension headaches, consider talking to a chiropractor, especially if your headaches worsen. Chiropractors can diagnose, assess, and treat headaches. In fact, current research indicates that chiropractic care can be effective in treating tension headaches.

Also, studies show that chiropractic treatment can help ease the frequency and intensity of migraines. Chiropractic care is a natural and effective treatment for tension headaches. Chiropractors can advise the necessary lifestyle changes, including:

• Limiting alcohol and caffeine intake. Drink less tea, soft drinks, alcohol, and coffee because these drinks can cause headaches.
• Keeping a journal. Record what you had eaten, what you were eating, the date, and time when you get a tension headache.
• Eating balanced meals. It’s recommended to eat your meals at the same time each day.
• Drinking lots of water. Drink eight to nine glasses of water every day to stay hydrated and keep your muscles from tensing.
• Improving your posture. A good posture can help you keep your muscles from tightening.
• Getting enough sleep. It is much easier to manage everyday stress when you are well-rested.
• Exercising regularly. It’s recommended to exercise five times a week for at least thirty minutes. Focus on your shoulders, neck, and jaw.
• Limiting your stress. Chiropractors can recommend you to practice meditation or get a massage to help you relax.

Plus, they can make adjustments to realign the spine and vertebrae, alleviating the pain and tension. Further, chiropractors, like Macquarie Chiro, can use other treatments like massages that relieve stress and encourage relaxation of the muscles.

What’s more, chiropractors can recommend proper work postures, relaxation techniques, and exercises, which are important to ease the recurring pain in the muscles of the back and neck.

A tension headache usually responds to treatment and hardly causes any long-lasting neurological damage. Even so, tension headaches can adversely impact your quality of life. It can make it hard for you to join in physical activities.

Also, you might miss days of school or work. It is imperative to not neglect the symptoms of tension headaches. If your tension headache is accompanied by high fever, loss of balance, and slurred speak, seek medical attention right away because it can translate to a more serious problem, which includes:

• Aneurysm
• Tumor
• Stroke

How To Prevent Future Tension Headaches

Because tension headaches are usually caused by different triggers, determining the things that cause your tension headache is one way to fend off future episodes. That said, consider recording or writing the cause of your tension headache, and include the following:

• Any circumstances that trigger stress
• Activities
• Beverages
• Daily meals

Make a note of the day you have a tension headache. After a few weeks, you might be able to determine the root cause of the problem. Say, for instance, if your journal reveals that your tension headaches took place on days when you drank a particular beverage or ate a particular food, that might be your food or drink trigger.

Takeaway

Pain relievers and other over the counter medications don’t always ease or alleviate headache symptoms. If you want a long-term solution, opt for chiropractic treatment. It is a non-invasive treatment that can ease the pain and tension on your upper back and neck. Thus, relieving your tension headache.