There are many types of headaches. Most people think they can be relieved by taking a pill right away. However, when the headache becomes chronic and causes you to suffer from constant pain, stress, and expense, it can cause a permanent headache that can affect your quality of life.
Take Note
- You have overindulged in alcohol or food. If it is severe enough to require you to take a day off work and medication, it is a migraine.
- Most people take over-the-counter painkillers and wait for the symptoms to go away. If it does, it is a tension headache. If it doesn’t, you should see a doctor. It’s not as easy as it seems.
- A headache can be a sign of serious illness. If it doesn’t resolve in a short period of time and with no prescription medication, seek medical advice.
- Many believe that migraines are accompanied by a visual aura around the sufferer.
Did You Know?
Migraine sufferers are immediately told they have an incurable condition and prescribed painkillers. You can’t use these drugs more than once or twice because you quickly develop tolerance. These patients are often depressed and can become very depressed.
How can we distinguish between a Tension headache and a Migraine attack? The Tension headache is more commonly described by tightening of the neck and facial muscles. This non-specific pain can sometimes be described as a “band” around the head that tightens it. Although initially thought to be a migraine caused primarily by the circulatory system, it is now believed to be neurological.
Common Types
The most common types of migraine are: Abdominal migraine, basilar headache and menstrual migraine. The migraine sufferer will feel pain in a specific area of the head, usually on one side or behind the eye. It may take a few days to get better and may even need to rest for a while.
The Migraine can be worsened by waking up, and the tension headache is worse at night. Each of us have a set mechanical compensations that we either inherit or are traumatically influenced by falls, accidents, and now – industrially enforced via occupation. When we think of “structural”, we tend to think about bone and muscle.
However, there are ligaments, which are weak in blood supply, wear out quickly, and are difficult to heal. There is also the Fascia, a thin membranous tissue that surrounds muscles and allows them work together. It also helps to “shape” us into our inherited shapes – our familial resemblances to Mother and Father.
The Fascia
The Fascia is responsible for the formation of the muscle groups around the skeleton. Osteopaths, Medical professionals, and others have discovered that fascia is a HEAVILY infested by nerve supply, has memory and has a lot more to it with structure than ever thought. The fascial system is also inextricably connected to muscle, bone and ligament. This makes it extremely intelligent and must be considered when treating someone structurally.
It requires sustained stretching, such as in Yoga, and not the vigorous rubbing approach of massages, which can be “inhibitory”. The fascia is connected to the upper neck vertebrae at the level C2 and C3. There is a boney connection IN the vertebral column to “Meningies”, or the Dural tube, as it becomes known below that point.
Meningitis is known for its intense headaches. This is because the meningies are extremely sensitive to pain. When a vertebra is at this level, it is restricted in movement by muscle spasm (going “out”), it creates a pulling force or dragging force within these tissue systems. This causes headaches (especially the Migraine-like Cluster Headache).