(32) Migraine
VIDEO
Migraine: Relieving The Pain Part 4
Acute Treatment for Tension -Type Headache
Tension-type headache is very common, usually short-lived and best not treated with painkillers. If you do take painkillers to treat it, you should not run into any problems provided you get a headache only every now and again.
However, the more headache days you have, the greater the chance you have of developing a medication overuse headache: if you always take painkillers for frequent tension-type headache, you will be taking them too many days in the week and running the risk of developing a medication overuse headache. This is when you need to think about other ways of treating the headache, including preventative drugs.
If I can’t take painkillers to treat my tension-type headache, what can I do?
There are a variety of ways that you can try to ease the headache. You could massage where you feel the pain, perhaps adding in lavender or something like that to relax the muscles and ease the headache. Local heat using a wheat bag or something similar can also ease the headache. Everyone relaxes in different ways; what you have to do is take the first step and make the time.
How often can I take painkillers to treat my tension-type headache before I am using too many?
This is a difficult question to answer until a variety of facts are considered! Too many depends on how many days you take your painkillers over time. Too many is not necessarily how many doses you take in a day but the number of days in the week that you take them. If you take three doses in a day one day in the week, there is not likely to be a problem. If you take three to four doses in the day on two days in the week, again it is not likely to be too many. The ‘too many’ kicks in if you take one or two doses on four or more days in successive weeks. The shift from occasional headache to daily or near-daily is more likely to happen the longer you continue to use the painkillers with this regularity. What you don’t want is your tension-type headache to become a medication overuse headache.
If I need a painkiller for my tension-type headache, which is the best one to use?
A simple painkiller such as aspirin, paracetamol or ibuprofen is better than a combination painkiller such as aspirin or paracetamol mixed with codeine or caffeine or both. The more potent the mix of drugs, the fewer days needed to hit the threshold for medication overdose headache to develop. The best advice is never treat low-impact headache with painkillers unless absolutely necessary. Try to ease your headache by using one of the many ways of ‘relaxing’ if you can.
