Finally Find Relief From Your Stress-Related Headaches
Are chronic stress headaches making it impossible for you to complete your daily routine? Stress headaches can derail your entire day, whether they begin in your neck, the back of your head, or in the front and center behind your eyes.
While lowering your stress level can often reduce stress-related headaches, getting rid of the pressure you are under is not always possible.
Contact Atta Rehab today to learn how physical therapy could be the key to permanently eliminating your stress-related headaches.
What is a stress-related headache?
Stress-related headaches, also known as tension headaches, are characterized by a dull ache or pressure in the forehead or the back of the neck or head.
This is the most common type of headache in adults, lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to days at a time.
Tension headaches typically begin in the middle of the day, in the back of your head, and spread forward as time passes.
What is the reason for my stress-related headaches?
While most headaches have no clear cause, stress-related headaches are frequently triggered by either a single stressful event or a buildup of tension throughout the day.
That is why they tend to occur in the middle of the day, when there has already been a buildup of stress. This timing indicates that it is not the stressful event itself that is causing the problem, but rather how our bodies are positioned as we experience it.
Poor posture, pulling your shoulders in toward your ears, tense muscles in your back and neck, and fatigue can all contribute to the poor body positioning that frequently causes stress headaches.
Stress-related headaches can be severe, though they are rarely as incapacitating as migraines. They typically cause a generalized ache over a broad region of the head, rather than attacking a specific area such as the eye (a trademark of another type of headache called a cluster headache).
The tension that causes headaches may be caused by emotional stress (if the emotional stress causes chronic neck tightness), or any of the following factors:
- Neck muscles that are easily fatigued
- “Text neck,” a strain disorder caused by constantly drooping your head forward to look at your smartphone.
- Work or sports-related repetitive motion or overuse
- Secondary pain issues, such as cervical spine arthritis,
Stress-related headaches that bother you for more than 15 days out of the month for 3 months or more are considered a chronic pain condition.
How can physical therapy help?
If you suffer from chronic stress headaches or are simply tired of taking NSAIDs for tension headaches, physical therapy can address the underlying structural cause.
During your first appointment with a physical therapist, they will evaluate your posture, body strength and movement. They may also examine your workspace to determine whether poor posture throughout the day is contributing to your headaches. They will then prescribe a series of stretches for you to do throughout the day to allow your body to reset its position.
Your physical therapist may also give you a series of strengthening exercises to do on your own to strengthen the muscles in your stomach, back, shoulders, and hips so you can properly hold your body while working.
Finally, your physical therapist will teach you pain-relieving techniques that you can use on your own whenever you have tension headaches. Ice, heat, massage, stretching, or specific movements are examples of these.
Don’t wait any longer to find relief!
Physical therapy strategies for treating stress-related headaches include:
- Exercises to strengthen your neck muscles, allowing them to hold the weight of your head more evenly and with less strain
- Postural and ergonomic advice to help you get rid of any bad habits that might be causing “text neck”
- Flexibility exercises, manual therapy, heat therapy and/or ice therapy
- Stress reduction measures such as yoga, lifestyle changes, and advice on how to reduce common stress triggers in your life.
If you are tired of having headaches ruin your day, please contact us to schedule an appointment with one of our physical therapists. You deserve to live a life uninhibited by pain, and our team can help you get there!
