Did you know there is cure for TENSION HEADACHE ? Well, read on and No, It is not a medication ?

As a woman in her 30's to 50's, are you tired of daily tension headache controlling your life?

1. Suffering
2. Decrease quality life
3. Distraction
4. Irritability
5. Advil popping

The old terms for headaches are tension headache and migraine; yet, science has taken us past those confusing terms from past. You may have a severe tension headache or moderate migraine. Confused, so is most world.

Tension headache is chewing muscle/joint pain & dysfunction. The pain seems to emanating from temples on side head. The temples are chewing muscle. Typically there is damage to joint, muscles, ligaments, disc, nerves of chewing system in one or both TMD complexes. So, have anyone you know point to where pain is emanating from and let them know it is a chewing muscle. So, if your pain is coming from chewing muscle; should request a referral to Orofacial pain specialist or chewing system orthopedic team.

Headache Prevalence:

1. Tension Headache: 48% females, 38% males
2. Migraine Headache: 18% females, 8% males

Tension Headache:

1. Episodic---frequent---daily
2. Unilateral temple ---bilateral temples
3. Women ages 30 to 50
4. Mild---Moderate---Severe
5. Anxiety---clench/grind---tension muscles
6. Worse upon awakening --- as day progress on workdays
7. Inflammation in chewing system
8. Tight band, dull-ache, throb

Mixed HA (TMD & Migraine)

1. Components: tension and migraine
2. Whole head or bilateral temples
3. Episodic or daily
4. mod or severe
5. Mixtures: a) 70% tension & 30% migraine b) 40% tension & 60 % migraine
6. Inflammation differs day/day & wk/wk
7. Inflammation: neck, jaw, sinus, allergy, chemicals, ear, eye, mouth
8. Poor health habits: sleep, cardio, nutrition, thought
9. Manage sources inflammation & you manage HA

Overlapping Pain Conditions:

1. Overlapping pain conditions increase pain headache
2. Muscle joint pains are mutually additive in pain intensity
3. Tension HA & moderate TMD are highly connected
4. Neck pain & TMD are highly connected
5. Blows, Falls, & MVA are highly connected TMD
6. Anxiety, Emotional Hyjacking, & PTSD are highly connected TMD

Tension muscles causes:

1. Muscle guarding
2. Anxiety/stress
3. Posturing jaw
4. Clench/grind
5. Muscle bracing
6. Grimacing
7. Pains north and south of chewing system

Reciprocal contraction or Kinetic chain effect or Muscle bracing: When neck muscles contract with phone on shoulder causes hyoid system contract, hyoid system contracts causing jaw muscle contract, and the Temporalis is jaw muscle.

Tension Muscle Pathway: 

1. Stress----Sympathetic system--- gamma efferent---muscle spindle---static contraction---build lactic acid---inflammation---pain
2. Three rx body stress: cortisol, adrenalin, and tension muscle
3. Tension goes into muscles back, neck, jaw, and head
4. Hints of problem w/ tension/stress/anxiety: backache, neckache, and headache
5. Severely damage TMD produces a lot muscle bracing to protect joint

Grinding/clenching

1. 3 different levels: mild, moderate, severe (destructive)
2. Destructive grind/clench fatigues disc, ligament, bone, muscle
3. Hidden: in our sleep or during focused times, clenching does not make noise, grinding ceases upon awakening
4. Dentist use severe wear as their clue grinding, it takes 20 to 30 years for moderate grinder to cause that kind wear, only a destructive grinder can be pick up by wear alone
5. Dentist seem think that all grinders are same, they are not, destructive grinders are behind most destruction of oral structures
6. Clench-grind is a lot like termites in basement, seems harmless many, but destroy houses

Negativity: In "your" journey to manage your tension headache, you will find that getting control of your negative thought habits or negative thought loops will be a major reduction in anxiety and major reduction in headaches.

TAKES TEAM MANAGE TENSION HEADACE:

1. Management of tension headache requires team.
2. No one doctor is capable of managing tension headache
3. Physical therapy, biofeedback, orofacial pain specialist, patient, orthotic
4. Other Therapist Considered due Unique Needs Patient: Acupuncture, chiropractor, massage therapist, psychologist, Christian counselor

HEADACHE GUIDEBOOK for MOMS (hints of tension headache)

1. Worse awakening
2. Wear primary teeth & 1st molar
3. Grind/clench
4. Broken retainers-Hawleys
5. High anxiety/stress
6. Atypical toothaches
7. Atypical earaches
8. Chipping, broken, crack fillings
9. Knots muscles
10. Enlarge Masseters
11. Jaw pain
12. IBS, reflux, GERD
13. Pain in or near temple
14. Unilateral or bilateral temple
15. Worse school days
16. Difficulty w/ wires/bands
17. click/pop jaw joint
18. Poor sleep quality

Good news for moms is tension headaches can be relieved in children without use drugs !!!

Good news for moms is an orthotic for children is possible, but quite difficult. Not a task for the average dentist.

The best tool for pediatric tension headaches is orthotic, no it’s biofeedback, no its physical therapy, no it patient working on anxiety/stress, no its improving cardiovascular conditioning. In reality, it depends on unique qualities of each patient pain.   

HOPE: 78% of tension headaches and 91% of migraine headaches improved for as long as five years following biofeedback therapy. (Blanchard & Applebaum, 1978, Headache, 27:580

GUIDELINES TENSION HEADACHE:

1. Stop taking medications to cover up headache.
2. Ibuprofen will eat your stomach up                           
3. Start seeking care to manage the cause of headache
4. Treating cause is always less expensive
5. Treating HA with Prozac, Elavil, or Valium good start
6.  Take back control of your life
7. Start Improving health habits
8. Get referred Orofacial Pain Specialist
9. Select the best team 

Finding the Source of Your Tension Headache

There is no single cause for a tension headache and it is not an inherited trait that runs in families, like maybe a migraine headaches. The Tension Headache can be caused by many things, including:

• Muscle tension
• Anxiety
• Emotional hijacking
• Stress
• Clench/Grind
• Poor diet
• Inadequate sleep
• Neck pain
• Habits-repetitive
• Poor posture
• Negative thinking
• Worry, fretting

Don’t you think it is time that science finally answer question to most common pain universe, the Tension Headache. It is not answer you were looking for “fast, quick, cheap”. Tension Headache requires a team of highly trained professionals; so, can one doctor treat tension headaches, no, not even Orofacial Pain Specialist. It fact the hardest working team member is patient in working on "your" health habits and implement anti-anxiety tools.