What are they ?
Headaches can range in severity from mere annoyance to debilitating pain and may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensory or visual disturbances as in migraine. They are the result of tension or stretching of the membranes around the brain and of the blood vessels and muscles of the scalp. However painful, they are not usually a sign of any serious underlying disorder.
HEADACHES WHICH ARE WORSE UPON WAKING, OR WHICH CAUSE A PERSON TO WAKEN IN THE NIGHT, COMING ON SUDENLY AND SEVERLY SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED BY A DOCTOR.
Causes.
The most common triggers for headaches include alcohol (hangover) and drugs, allergies, dental problems, eyestrain, head injuries, fever, neck and spine problems including poor posture, depression, anxiety, stress, sinusitis, weather conditions, and a poor work environment. Some women experience headaches as a side effect of the contraceptive pill or hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Very occasionally they may have a more serious cause such as hypertension (low blood pressure), brain tumour, temporal arteries, (inflammation of the arteries in the neck, face and scalp) or aneurysm (ballooning of a blood vessel) in the brain. Chronic headaches should always be dealt with first by your doctor to establish the cause.
Types of headaches.
There are several different types of headaches, and often headaches are given a general descriptive term depending on it’s presentation:
Sinus headaches: generally caused by a blockage or an acute infection in the sinuses, and may be accompanied with fever. This type of headache can progressively get worse during the course of the day. Sinus headaches can easily and are often misdiagnosed as either migraine at cluster headaches. The cause of sinus headaches can be sinus infection, nasal polyps or a deviated septum.
Tension headaches:
Tension headaches are associated with emotional issues, such as mental stress and /or depression and more common in women, this type of headache is often felt as a band across the forehead and tend to get worse as the day progresses, however they generally don’t worsen with activities therefore most people can carry on with their day.
Often the cause of tension headaches are tight muscles at the back of the neck and over the scalp, therefore anything that can cause these particular muscles to become tight can be the catalyst for this type of headache.
Causes:
Physical and mental tension, tiredness, sleeping in a wrong or awkward position, working long hours, stress, anxiety or /and hours spent bent over a computer. Some people get tension headaches from drinking either to much coffee or alcohol and generally not enough water.
TMJ (temporomandibular joint) headaches.
This type of headache causes pain and discomfort on the temples and in front of the ears, the joint it’s self is the cause of the headaches. These types of headaches can be temporary or last for many years and can either effect one or both sides of your face and are generally more common in women than in men and more common in people aged between 20 and 40.
Causes:
TMJ headaches like all headaches can have several causes, such as stress, whiplash, jaw tension, or direct trauma to the jaw which is often the most common cause.
Cluster headaches.
This type of headache is probably the least common type of headache, the reason they are called cluster headaches is because they can appear in clusters, they are generally a periodic headache and can appear several times during the day without warning and are generally sharp, one sided and generally in the vicinity of the eye, they can also be one sided and are often more painful than migraine, but don’t last as long. This type of headache has been nicknamed the suicide headaches as attacks can occur for weeks or even months, then go into remission then reappear suddenly, this type of headache is more common in men.
Migraine headaches.
Migraines are one of the most common headaches in adults however women are 3 times more likely to develop them as opposed to men, they are serious and debilitating and whilst you can get a migraine at any age they are more common before the age of 40 and 50% of sufferers have a family history of them..
There are multiple triggers to headaches ranging from additives in food to too much sun all the way to stress, anxiety to infection and so on.
At Acu-Care Naturopathics, I regularly treat many types of headache with migraine being the most common, acupuncture is a very effective option to try.
Regardless of your medically diagnosed condition natural medicine has something to offer either as a stand alone treatment or as complementary treatment along side orthodox treatment.
The Acu-Care Naturopathic clinic is suitably located for many of Perth’s suburbs and is particularly handy for: Belmont, south perth, vic park, lathlain, Carlisle, kewdale, rivervale, redcliffe, and cloverdale.
To find out more about acupuncture and how it can help you call 9478-1415 or better still make an appointment today.
Best of health
Paul Neilson