What should you know about terrible tension headache?

Tension headache is commonly felt on both sides of the head, across the forehead, or around the back of the head and neck. The discomfort may feel pressing or tight rather than throbbing. Tender scalp, jaw, or neck muscles can accompany it. Stress, missed meals, dehydration, poor sleep, prolonged screen work, and holding the neck in one position may contribute.

A severe headache is not automatically a tension headache. A clinician considers how quickly it began, whether it is different from previous headaches, and whether symptoms such as fever, weakness, vision change, confusion, or vomiting are present.

Drink water, eat if you have missed a meal, and take a quiet break from screens. Gentle movement and a warm compress over tight neck muscles may help. Keep a note of the start time, location, triggers, associated symptoms, and any medicine taken. Follow package directions for pain medicine and avoid taking it repeatedly without advice, because frequent use can contribute to medication-overuse headache.

If headaches keep returning, interfere with work or sleep, or need regular pain medicine, arrange a GP Consultation. A clinician can review triggers, medicines, blood pressure, vision, and the neurological examination.

Seek emergency help for a headache that reaches maximum intensity suddenly, follows a head injury, or comes with weakness, facial drooping, difficulty speaking, fainting, confusion, seizure, severe neck stiffness, fever, or new vision loss. Seek prompt assessment for a new severe headache during pregnancy, after childbirth, or in someone with a weakened immune system.

Does my pattern fit tension headache? Which warning symptoms should I monitor? How often can I use pain medicine? Could sleep, vision, jaw clenching, posture, or another condition be contributing?