What is a "Muscle Contraction" Headache?

QUESTION: What is a "muscle contraction" headache?
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ANSWER: It is one of the most common types of headache, and it is also called
a "tension headache." The muscles of your head and neck are powerful ones
(just think of how powerful your jaw muscles are). When those muscles are
contracted for a long period of time, a headache often results. Add this to
the fact that many of us respond to stress by clenching our jaws, grinding our
teeth, and using our faces to frown our displeasure at the world, and you can
understand how a muscle contraction headache gets started.
How do you know if your headache is of the muscle contraction variety?
It's usually one that is a feeling of tightness and pressure, often feeling
like a tight band is around the head. Women get them more frequently than
men, and the pain is usually on both sides of the head. Many times, the
headache sufferer can identify the stressful situation that has created the
problem.
If headaches are more frequent than twice a week, the situation should be
carefully evaluated by patient and physician. If the stressors cannot be
altered, the patient can often learn to react to them in a more healthy
manner. Biofeedback training can be helpful in teaching the headache sufferer
to relax instead of to tense up and get a headache. During biofeedback
training, the patient's head and neck muscles are connected to a machine that
alerts the patient, or gives him "feedback" when the muscles are tense or
relaxed. This helps the patient identify what a tense muscle feels like, so
that he can avoid the habit of tensing that then creates a headache.
The cycle of pain and tension can be a tough one to break. Once the
headache pain starts, the tense muscles are harder to relax. Probably the
most effective way to get rid of a muscle contraction headache is to make a
conscious effort to relax the head, face, neck and shoulders, enjoy some rest
and quiet, and take a mild pain reliever such as aspirin or acetaminophen.
The warmth of a heating pad or hot water bottle also often provides a welcome
relief to aching, tight muscles.