Chronic Headache

Most people who only suffer from headaches very occasionally perhaps do not realize that there are various kinds of headache. Different types of headaches affect different parts of the head and even headaches that affect the same area last different lengths of time. The one that laststhe longest, almost constant pain, is called a chronic headache.

A chronic headache can feel like episodic migraine - a throbbing in the temples - but unlike episodic migraine, a chronic headache can last for days, weeks, months and even years. One of the causes of chronic headache is stress.

One of the features of these headaches is that the stress can increase in a vicious circle. That is, stress brings on the headache, then you worry about the headache which causes more stress, which causes more pain and so on. This is a very difficult cycle of events for some people to break.

You can even bring on a stress-related chronic headache by worrying that you might get a headache. It is very depressing, because it seems that you just cannot win.

Sufferers of chronic headache lead a miserable life and usually make life miserable for everyone around them too. Therefore, if you are in constant pain, do something about it. The first thing to try is to uncover the cause of your stress or anxiety. Something is triggering your headaches and you probably know what it is.

You need to examine your life and find out what is so upsetting about it. Is it your partner, your job, your neighbours or your kids? Is it an illness of yours or a close friend or member of the family? Money and debts? It could be a combination of several factors, in which case, you will have to de-stress them one at a time.

This is the only sure-fire way of dealing with a chronic headache that are caused by stress. You can take tablets to kill the pain and tablets to put you to sleep and tablets to calm you down, but in the long run, you know that they are not really helping and that feeling will stress you out even more.

Other forms of chronic headache are chronic cluster headaches and chronic tension headaches. Episodic cluster headaches will occur every now and again, but chronic cluster headaches happen several times a day for years. Somewhere between 10% an 15% of sufferers from cluster headaches develop chronic symptoms.

There are various names for chronic cluster headaches depending on the severity of the pain.

An episodic tension headache is the most common form of headache. Everybody gets them from time to time, but a chronic tension headache is when you get periods of pain lasting for at least 15 days in a three month period.

If you suffer from chronic headache, do not just take medication or do not just sit it out. You need professional advice once you suspect that you have a problem. You could try to tackle it alone by taking up a sport or yoga to reduce your stress and tension, but it really is better for you to tackle the problem of chronic headache with the support of a professional.