Most individuals who just have headaches very infrequently perhaps do not comprehend that there are different types of headache. Different sorts of headaches have an effect on different parts of the head and even headaches that have an effect on the same area last different lengths of time. The ones that last the longest, giving almost continuous pain, are called chronic headaches.
Chronic headaches can seem like episodic migraine – a throbbing in the temples – but unlike episodic migraine, chronic headaches can go on for days, weeks, months and even years. One of the causes of chronic headaches is stress.
One of the features of these headaches is that the stress can increase in a vicious circle. That is, stress brings on the headache, then you worry about the headache which causes more stress, which creates more pain and so on. This is a very difficult cycle of events for some people to break out of.
You can even bring on a stress-related chronic headache by worrying that you might have a headache. It is very depressing, because it seems that you just cannot win.
Sufferers of chronic headaches have a miserable time of it and normally make life miserable for everybody around them as well. Therefore, if you are in continuous pain, do something about it.
The first thing to attempt is to discover the reason for your stress or concern. Something is starting your headaches and you probably know what it is.
You have to scrutinize your life and find out what is so upsetting in it. Is it your partner, your career, your neighbours or your children? Is it an illness of yours or a close friend or member of the family? Money and debts? It could be a combination of several causes, in which case, you will have to de-stress them one by one.
This is the only certain method of countering chronic headaches that are caused by stress. You can take tablets to kill the pain and tablets to put you to sleep and tablets to calm you down, but in the long term, you know that they are not actually helping and that feeling will stress you out even more.
Other types of chronic headaches are chronic cluster headaches and chronic tension headaches. Episodic cluster headaches will happen each now and again, but chronic cluster headaches happen a number of times a day for years. Somewhere between 10% an 15% of sufferers from cluster headaches get chronic indications.
There are various names for chronic cluster headaches depending on the severity of the pain.
An episodic tension headache is the most common kind of headache. Everyone gets them from time to time, but a chronic tension headache is when you get periods of pain lasting for at least 15 days in a three month period.
If you suffer from chronic headaches, do not just take medication or do not just sit it out. You require professional advice once you suspect that you have a problem. You could endeavour to tackle it alone by taking up a sport or yoga to reduce your stress and tension, but it actually is better for you to tackle the problem of chronic headaches with the support of a professional.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a lot of topics, but is at present concerned with chronic headaches. If you want to find out more go to Stopping Headaches.