How to relieve a tension headache

A warm shower or heat pack across the neck and shoulders may ease tight muscles; some people prefer a cool pack on the forehead. Eat if you have missed a meal, drink to thirst and step away from sustained close-up work.

Tension-type headache commonly presents as pressing or tightening pain on both sides of the head, sometimes with tenderness in the scalp, neck or shoulders. Routine movement does not typically intensify it in the same way that movement can aggravate migraine.

Long periods at a desk, jaw clenching, poor sleep and emotional strain can accompany an episode, but muscle tension is not proof of the diagnosis. New nausea, strong light sensitivity, fever, sinus symptoms or neurological changes may point toward another explanation.

If you can safely take it, a non-prescription pain reliever may help when used at the labelled dose. Check first if you are pregnant, take blood thinners, have kidney or liver disease, have a history of stomach ulcers, or react to anti-inflammatory medicines.

For prevention, adjust the screen to eye level, support the lower back, vary your position and take movement breaks. Check whether you clench your teeth while concentrating or wake with jaw soreness. Consistent sleep, meals, activity and caffeine intake can reduce avoidable triggers.

Keep a headache record if episodes recur. Include duration, pain location, accompanying symptoms, medicines and response. Do not combine products without checking their ingredients, since different cold-and-flu or headache remedies may contain the same pain medicine.

Get emergency help for a headache that reaches maximum intensity suddenly, or one accompanied by facial droop, limb weakness, loss of coordination, trouble speaking, confusion, seizure, collapse or loss of vision. Urgent assessment is also needed after major head trauma or with fever, stiff neck and unusual drowsiness.

Book a medical review when the pattern changes, episodes become more frequent, pain steadily worsens, headaches repeatedly interrupt sleep, or you rely on pain relievers on many days. New headache during pregnancy, after childbirth, or alongside cancer treatment or reduced immunity needs prompt advice.

Ask how the pattern differs from migraine or medication-overuse headache, which pain medicine fits your health history, whether jaw clenching or vision strain needs assessment, and what frequency should trigger preventive treatment. Take your headache record and a complete medicine list.