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Hypnosis Techniques That Manage & Prevent Tension Headaches

Tension headaches also referred to as tension-type headaches (TTH), are headaches that are mild to moderate in severity. Sufferers describe them as feeling like a band around their heads.


They are the most common type of headache, with up to 78%1 of the general population experiencing them at some point during their lives. The headaches may also be chronic for around three per cent of the population.

There are two different types of tension headaches. Episodic ones happen on fewer than 15 days a month; chronic ones happen more than 15 days per month.




The symptoms you experience during a tension headache may not be as severe as in a migraine, but they can still be debilitating:

  • Dull pressure in the head

  • A feeling of a tight band around the head

  • Pain is all over, not localized to any area

  • Worse in the scalp, temples, back of the neck, and/or shoulders

  • Insomnia


What Causes Tension Headaches?

There are two schools of thought about the cause of tension-type headaches. One is that the headaches cause muscle tension. The other posits that muscle tension causes tension headaches. (Either way, muscle tension is present in 70% of those with tension headaches).


Earlier research

showed that tension headaches were a result of the muscles in the head and neck tensing up. They were even called “muscle-contraction headaches.”

A more recent study points to this muscle-contraction theory potentially not holding water. This study looked at patients who received Botox (botulinum toxin) injections to paralyze the temporal muscle (i.e., the temples.) Despite the freezing of the muscles, participants didn’t see any significant decreases in their headaches.


More recent research points to headaches being caused by trigger points (also known as knots in your muscles) in the myofascial tissue, which is the tissue that encases all of your body's organs, bones, etc.


Some triggers may include:

  • Stress

  • Alcohol use

  • Caffeine (either too much or withdrawal symptoms)

  • Sinus infections

  • Jaw-clenching or teeth grinding

  • Eyestrain

  • Smoking

  • Fatigue


How Are Tension Headaches Treated?

Tension headaches are treated in two main ways: pharmacologically (through medication) and non-pharmacologically, which may include things from cognitive-behavioural therapy to acupuncture.

  • Cognitive-behavioural therapy: is used to provide psychoeducation about the relationship between tension headaches and stress as well as help patients replace potential negative cognitions about pain, such as "I'm going to feel like this forever" with more positive or constructive ones, like "this is a signal from my body trying to tell me something, but I am safe." This technique helps people better cope with headaches.

  • Mindfulness: This may help reduce the intensity of the pain by reducing the amount of anxiety and stress that trigger the pain. It also helps with emotion regulation, which in turn increases self-efficacy—the belief in the ability to accomplish goals. In headache patients, this helps with quality of life.



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Beverley Sinclair

Clinical Hypnotherapist

info@bsinclairhpno.co.uk

07956 694818

 

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