Who suffers from headaches?
Nearly everyone will suffer a headache at some point in time. Headache is one of the most common reasons people seek medical help. Also, it’s the number one reason for patients to come to our clinic. Working as an acupuncturist always made me look deeper at the causes of problems. Often, more than one underlying cause contributes to each headache. In this part of the article, I will first discuss tension-type headache.
Symptoms
A tension headache is felt as pain, tightness, or pressure around the head. The pain is sometimes described as throbbing or aching and can affect the head’s front, top, back, or side. A person feels pain in the neck, upper back, eyes, jaw, or other muscle groups in the body. It may also radiate from other areas like the shoulders or upper back.
Causes
Muscle contractions can cause tension headaches.
Various foods can cause these types of contractions, activities, stressors or some people develop tension headaches after staring at a computer screen for a long time. Cold temperatures may also trigger a tension headache. Even hidden dental infections or TMJ can be significant enough to contribute to headaches.
How can acupuncture help?
Acupuncture can stimulate the nervous system to release natural painkillers. Also, it helps relax the muscles. I will examine all the muscle groups that involve in muscle tension. It is vital to identify and correct the ordinary everyday activities that are the source of muscle strain in the neck and shoulders, leading to a headache. Maintaining good posture is essential. Another major factor is dehydration. Many people do not drink enough water to hydrate their cells adequately. Muscles that do not get enough water ache more than well-hydrated muscles. In the following article, I will discuss migraine headaches.