Headaches are one of the most common physical problems people experience. If you have headache pain, you don’t have to suffer. Only in rare cases are headaches life threatening. Symptoms of more serious conditions include morning vomiting, gradually increasing severity of headaches, worsening of headaches with exercise, headaches accompanied by neurologic symptoms (disturbances of vision, sense of smell, mentation), or a headache that is severe in quality and different from your typical headaches.

Headache Classification

This information is not intended for you to use to diagnose your own headache, but rather to help you understand the differences among headaches. It may also assist you in the discussion of headache symptoms with your clinician.

Tension Headaches

Tension headaches are by far the most common form of headaches. In fact, some experts estimate that 90% of all headaches treated are tension headaches. Tension headaches are also called muscle contraction headaches because they are caused in part by the prolonged muscle contraction, or tightening, of the muscles of the head and neck. Tense muscles of the head and neck are often the result of stress - either emotional or physical. Although stress can play an important, positive role in our lives, an excessive amount or an abnormal type of stress can set off a tension headache.

Reading slumped down in a chair, for instance, or hunching over a computer can cause extreme muscle tension. Many everyday situations - rush-hour traffic, excessive work loads, squinting in bright sunlight - can be very stressful to the body, thereby causing a tension headache. That is why this headache type is so common.