Tension-type headache
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By Lee Sung-hun
Headaches are almost the most common ailment. It is said that more than seven out of 10 people experience a headache once or more in a year. Although headaches are so common, those who suffer from them fear that the headaches may be associated with something more serious such as a brain tumor. There are numerous causes for a headache, but only a very small fraction of those causes are related to such a severe brain-related condition.
Our brain itself cannot feel pain, even if you were to poke it with a needle. What people feel as a headache is felt in the blood vessels, nerves and muscles within and around the cranium that are susceptible to pain. Therefore, there is no reason to fear a life-threatening brain disease just because of a headache. However, it must be noted that if a headache is accompanied with other symptoms such as fever, vomiting, seizure or loss of consciousness, or if it is more severe than a normal one and persists, or if the symptoms become more severe as days or weeks pass, it is recommended that the patient seek out a more precise diagnosis.
Generally, most day-to-day headaches can be classified as “primary” headaches whose causes cannot be determined even with the aid of a sophisticated diagnostic procedure, such as magnetic resonance imaging. Of such primary headaches, tension-type headaches that are caused by tensed up muscles around the cranium are the most common. A surprisingly common misconception is that the scalp directly covers the cranial bone. Truth is that there is a layer of muscle between the scalp and the cranial bone. When this muscle layer continuously contracts — i.e. muscular tension — it can cause pain, and that is a typical tension-type headache. Unlike a migraine, the symptoms are distributed on both the left and right side. The pain does not beat along with the heart pumping but rather the pressure or tightening pain persists, and does not intensify with a normal day-to-day activity. There is no nausea or vomiting associated with it, but some can experience photophobia or phonophobia, becoming overly sensitive to light or sound, respectively.
Commonly, patients with tension-type headaches have issues around the neck, shoulders or jaw joints that have resulted from bad posture, prolonged usage of computers and smartphones, or stress. Such stress and bad posture inhibits normal blood circulation in the muscles, which accumulates pain-causing substances resulting in a headache. Tension in the shoulders, neck and jaw alone can cause pain at the back of the head, temples, and forehead and around the eyes, what is known as “referred pain.” Patients who also experience trismus (commonly known as “lockjaw”) along with headache should simultaneously treat the jaw joints.
Treatments start with acupuncture, cupping or Chuna-chiropractic to relax the tensed up muscles. If the patient also suffers from posture issues such as a straight neck and swayback, they are corrected. There are cases where once the muscular pain due to posture is treated the patient’s headaches are relieved without any other treatments.
Tense muscles from stress can be remedied with herbal medicine. In oriental medicine, the phrase Du-Han-Jock-Yeol is used to express that for health the head should be kept cold, while the feet heated. A person’s head at the top of our body is a warm body part that gathers the rising warm Yang Qi from the heavens. Such Yang Qi should flow downwards to the feet. In contrast, the feet at the bottom of the body gather the earth’s cold Yin Qi which should flow towards the head to normalize the Qi flow within our body. For such reasons, it is said that no matter how cold the head is kept, it does not become ill.
In relation to this, stress is explained in terms of flame — Hwa, — or heat —Yeol. Qi from such flame/heat have tendency to rise up, which forces the Yang-Qi that should move down towards the feet back up towards the head, which causes headaches. Therefore, herb medicine that cools such Hwa-Qi can be very effective against stress induced headaches.
To prevent tension-type headaches, maintaining correct posture is crucial. When seated, it is a good practice to sit up straight, and pull the chin in. From the side, the ears should align with the center line of the shoulders in a straight line to ensure that you are maintaining a correct posture. Keeping the body in the same pose for a long time should be avoided. If you are suffering from headaches, changing your posture every thirty minutes or so along with light stretching of the neck and shoulders should help with the pain. Keeping the stress at bay with regular exercise or meditation can also be helpful.
If you suffer from headaches that is accompanied by pain in the neck or shoulders or jaw joints, treatments from an Oriental clinic can address the pain appropriately.
The writer practices Korean Oriental Medicine at UN Oriental Medical Clinic in Hannam-dong, Seoul. He can be reached at sung_hun@naver.com.