About this topic
Tension headache is the most common type of headache. You often feel stress and tension before the headache starts. Severe headaches can interfere with school, work, and your everyday activities. Tension headaches can be treated with drugs and making changes in how you live. ‚
View OriginalView Original
View OriginalView Original
What care is needed at home?
- Ask your doctor what you need to do when you go home. Make sure you ask questions if you do not understand what the doctor says. This way you will know what you need to do.
- You may be asked to keep a diary about your headaches. This includes writing down when the headache happens and what you were doing before it happened. You will need to write down what you ate and how much sleep you got before the headache. This diary will help you learn what might be causing your headaches so you can avoid these triggers.
- Place an ice pack or a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a towel on your head. Never put the ice right on the skin. Do not leave the ice on more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time.
- Try putting a heating pad on your sore muscles for no more than 20 minutes at a time. Never go to sleep with a heating pad on as this can cause burns. Heated packs that are put in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute also work well.
- Lie down in a quiet, dark room and try to sleep.
- Try to sit and stand without slouching. This will help your back and neck muscles.
- Rest your eyes. If you work on a computer, take a break for a few minutes every hour. Cup your eyes with the palms of your hands and apply light pressure for 2 minutes.
- Massage your shoulder, neck, face, or where you feel the tension.
What follow-up care is needed?
Your doctor may ask you to make visits to the office to check on your progress. Be sure to keep these visits. ‚
What drugs may be needed?
The doctor may order drugs to: ‚
- Help with pain. This includes aspirin, acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin), and naproxen (Aleve or Naprosyn). Also, pain drugs that combine aspirin and caffeine, like Excedrin, may help. Some people need stronger pain relief with a narcotic.
- Relax tight muscles
- Reduce anxiety or low mood. This is often used to help prevent headaches that happen 2 to 3 times a week.
Will physical activity be limited?
- Headaches may be painful enough to stop you from doing your normal activities.
- Exercise may help lower stress. Check with your doctor to see what exercise may be right for you.
What changes to diet are needed?
- Do not skip meals. Going without food for long periods may cause headaches.
- Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water each day. This may help prevent headaches.
- If you see from your diary that eating a certain food gives you a headache, avoid that food.
- Limit caffeine. Too much caffeine may bring on your headache. If you drink a lot of caffeine products, missing one day of them may also cause a headache.
What can be done to prevent this health problem?
- Learn what makes your headaches worse and avoid these triggers.
- Get regular exercise and eat a balanced diet. Good health habits may help prevent headaches.
- Limit the amount of time you look at a screen, such as TV, computer, and video games.
- Relax and reduce stress in your life. Hot baths, breathing exercises, exercise and walking, yoga, and meditation are some ways that help.
- Avoid beer, wine, and mixed drinks (alcohol).
- Quit smoking. This can make headaches worse.
- Hold the phone rather than cradling it on your shoulder. Use a headset or use the speaker mode.
- Use a good, supportive pillow for sleeping. Try changing pillows if you wake up with headaches in the morning or they start early in the day. Get a good nights sleep.
- Use good posture when sitting, standing, and doing all activities.
- Avoid bright lights if they make your headaches worse. Wear sunglasses in bright places.
When do I need to call the doctor?
- Headache after a head injury. Go to the ER right away.
- Change in your headaches. This includes headaches that happen suddenly, more often, get worse, wake you up, or feel different than the usual type.
- Headache lasts more than a few days, or drugs and other treatments dont give you relief.
- Pain is worse when you lie down
- Blurred eyesight and this makes you sick to your stomach.
- Passing out
- You are not feeling better in 2 to 3 days or you are feeling worse
Teach Back: Helping You Understand
The Teach Back Method helps you understand the information we are giving you. The idea is simple. After talking with the staff, tell them in your own words what you were just told. This helps to make sure the staff has covered each thing clearly. It also helps to explain things that may have been a bit confusing. Before going home, make sure you are able to do these: ‚
- I can tell you about my condition.
- I can tell you what may help ease my pain.
- I can tell you what I will do if there is a change in my headaches.
Where can I learn more?
FamilyDoctor.org ‚
http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/diseases-conditions/headaches.html ‚
National Headache Foundation ‚
http://www.headaches.org/education/Headache_Topic_Sheets/Tension-Type_Headache ‚
U.S. National Library of Medicine ‚
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001800/ ‚
Consumer Information Use and Disclaimer
This information is not specific medical advice and does not replace information you receive from your health care provider. This is only a brief summary of general information. It does NOT include all information about conditions, illnesses, injuries, tests, procedures, treatments, therapies, discharge instructions or life-style choices that may apply to you. You must talk with your health care provider for complete information about your health and treatment options. This information should not be used to decide whether or not to accept your health care providers advice, instructions or recommendations. Only your health care provider has the knowledge and training to provide advice that is right for you. ‚
Copyright
Copyright ‚ © 2015 Clinical Drug Information, LLC and Lexi-Comp, Inc. ‚