Try stress management techniques to relieve tension headaches
Stress for Success
September 4, 2007


You're behind on two work projects that are due next week, not to mention the sorry shape of your house. One of your kids needs braces and your mortgage payment is overdue. Life is just too stressful! You reach for the aspirins as you feel a headache coming on again.

Your headache pain probably gradually begins at the back of your head and upper neck, tightening like a band of pressure on both sides. It’s not usually disabling but it makes coping with anything stressful more difficult.

Tension headaches are the most common type of headache and most adults occasionally experience them; women more so than men. They’re called episodic if you have them on fewer than and chronic if on more than 15 days per month.

There’s no single cause, for instance, they’re not an inherited trait. It’s commonly believed that tension headaches are caused by - you got it - tension or stress. Symptoms can include:
· Irritability
· Waking up with a headache
· Chronic fatigue
· Trouble falling and staying asleep
· Muscle aches
· Loss of focus
· Dizziness

Tension headaches are red flags telling you to reduce your stress. Rather than simply medicating yourself with aspirin, try these ideas:
· Consciously deep breathe for a couple of minutes every hour on the hour to limit your headaches. Inhale deeply and as you exhale imagine the breath slightly expanding the part of your head that aches.
· Do deep relaxation several times a week.
· Free up time daily by not doing unimportant chores and invest that time into creating quiet time for yourself.
· Reduce complaining about things; ask if what you’re complaining about is within your control. If it is identify and pursue your options in dealing with it.
· Stop worrying about anything that’s beyond your control.
· Get regular, daily exercise even if only a relaxed walk vs. cardio-vascular exercise. Do yoga.
· Look at stressors through humorous eyes to diminish the tension they create.
· Do something fun on a regular, at least weekly, basis to make every-day stress easier to deal with.
· Eat a healthy diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains to give you more energy.
· Consider biofeedback or counseling to reduce your tension headaches.

If these traditional stress management techniques aren’t enough to quell your chronic tension headaches, which 2 – 3% of Americans have, consider using antidepressants along with stress management techniques. Findings from an Ohio University clinical trial, published in the May, 2001 Journal of the American Medical Association, suggest a combination of antidepressants and stress management therapy can cut the frequency of chronic headaches by as much as 50%! This combination is more effective than medication or stress reduction alone. Additionally, those subjects receiving both treatments were able to discontinue antidepressant sooner than those receiving antidepressants only.

Headaches are a real pain. Look at them as symptoms of stress needing to be resolved and go to http://nationalheadachefoundation.com to learn more. Information is power.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com with your questions or for information about her workshops on this and other topics and to invite her to speak to your organization.