What is a Tension Headache?
Physicians in the past generally thought of tension headaches as extremely common (which they are) and virtually never disabling (which they sometimes are). Tension headaches were once called muscle contraction headaches but the medical community now feels they have essentially nothing to do with muscle contraction. They were also once called stress tension headaches implying that they were not truly a distinct entity but rather a psychologically driven condition, but that is also not true. Tension headaches, like all intrinsic neurologic diseases, can be made worse by being under stress but are not distinctly caused by it.
Prior to the headache classification system called the International Headache Society Classification system or I.H.S.{Cephalgia 2004;24 (Suppl 1)}, the studies on tension headaches included patients that varied widely. Tension type headaches were the least understood type of primary headache at the time of the development of the current I.H.S. classification system; it will undergo the most revision sometime during the next couple of years. Until then, the study of patients with chronic headache will be less than satisfactory as the current definition of chronic tension type headaches probably includes patients with different types of headaches.
Experiencing Tension Head Pain?
Dr. Loftus can treat patients in the Houston, TX and surrounding areas. Dr. Loftus has also has availability for remote appointments.
