What could be the cause of your headaches?

The headaches that the general population suffer from could have many different reasons as to why they occur. It could be from eyesight issue or eye strain, especially if you work on a computer all day; it could be dehydration, hormonal imbalance, stress, or poor posture. Dependent on the reason for the headache, they can cause pain in different areas of the head and neck.

The most common headache which affects a high percentage of the population are tension or stress induced headaches. The stress causes muscular tension in the neck and shoulder areas, which coincidentally, many office-workers suffer with due to the poor posture of desk sitting.

Why does muscular tension cause headaches?

The anatomy of the head and neck is important to understand as this plays a role into understanding this type of headache.

Tension, due to stress or poor posture because of the type of job you have, places too much strain on the tissue which sits on the shoulders, neck and then travelling up to the lower part of the skull. The increased stress causes tightness and if the muscles are already weak from poor posture, tension starts to increase. The muscles and their attachment points start to pull on the skull and cause headaches.

What can I do to prevent this?

Quick ways to prevent the pain is to take painkillers like paracetamol or ibuprofen, however this will not fix the problem at hand.

Also, if you have access a massage to the head and neck areas. This minimizes tension in the area that are causing pain.

The best way to actually prevent these headaches is to stretch and increase the strength of the shoulder and neck muscles. Increasing the strength of these muscles ensures that the area will become more robust and support the weight of the head in general. Stretching the muscles will allow for the tension to release and posture to improve, along with the strengthening of the muscles.

If you are suffering from chronic headaches, is it important to rule out any other issues that may be occurring through a visit to a medical professional. If you believe they are a result of muscular tension, visit MSKdoctors.