Precipitating Factors

Many things can contribute to a tension-type headache.

Physical and Environmental Causes

• Poor posture, close work under poor lighting conditions, or cramps from assuming an unnatural head or neck position for long periods of time
• Arthritis, particularly cervical arthritis
• Abnormalities in neck muscles, bones or discs
• Eye strain caused when one eye is compensating for another eye’s weakness
• Misalignment of teeth or jaws
• Noise or lighting

While a physical problem can precipitate a chronic tension-type headache, most are the result of temporary anxiety or depression or a more pronounced depression. And, for each person, the situation that induced or caused the depression -- and thus the headache -- may be different.

Emotional Factors

Job Conflicts and Family Relationships
You may be experiencing difficulties at work or in your personal life. And, like many people, you may believe you have adapted to a distressing or aggravating situation and are not totally aware of how much it has actually affected you.

Grief
If someone close to you is ill or has died, your headache may be related to sadness, anxiety, despair or grief. Grief frequently precipitates chronic headaches.

Depression
There are different types of depression and one of them is what physicians refer to as "reactive depression." For example, you may be coping with and reacting to a significant physical illness or disability; the actual illness itself, the associated psychological feelings, and the effect they have on your job and lifestyle may be depressing you.

You may be taking a medication and you did not realize that one of its side effects is depression. Your headache is alerting you to a problem that deserves medical attention.

Finally, the depression may not be the result of external events or medications and may, instead, be caused by an underlying psychological illness or biochemical depression. This can be diagnosed and managed through medical attention.

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Tension-Type Headaches | Treatments

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