by Kate Johns

Created on: February 05, 2008

If you don't get headaches you are without a doubt the luckiest human being on the face of the planet. With that said, having a headache can be a very painful experience, that makes you feel so terrible that you end up lying in a dark room, feeling nauseated. In fact having headaches can be so painful that some people go to the emergency room, begging the doctor for morphine.

Having an ache in your head is not like having a sprained ankle, where you can wrap it, and get sympathy from friends and family. Usually, you can only pop back a few pain pills and keep going with your hectic day. There are many different kinds of headaches and there are many reasons why headaches happen. Some common triggers for headaches are: medication use, lack of caffeine, high humidity, weather fluctuations, some foods, alcohol, lack of sleep, stress, seasonal allergies, eye strain, illness, loud noises, and poor posture.

TENSION HEADACHE

The most common type of headache is a tension headache, and more women than men get this kind of headache. Tension headaches are brought on by stress that makes you feel stressed out, therefore you clench your jaw, scrunch up your shoulders, or bite down on your teeth. All this helps to create a tension headache. This type of headache often begins in the back of your head and your upper neck. It's a band of pressure that encircles your head and can have intense pain over your eyebrows.

What can you do to get relief for a tension headache? There isn't one effective cure for a tension headache. You have to experiment and find out what works for you. Move your shoulders around, go for a walk, chew on carrot sticks to relieve your tense jaw. Take two acetaminophen tablets, or some aspirin to alleviate pain, or you can take NSAIDS, that are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Take a warm bath, try yoga, breathing exercises, massageall this can help relieve a headache.

MIGRAINE HEADACHE

Migraine headaches start as a dull ache and grow into a constant throbbing pain, usually located on one side of the head. Migraines afflict some 28 million people in the United States alone, and are characterized by nausea, and vomiting. Migraine sufferers say that light bothers them, sound can be troublesome, and they just want to crawl into bed, in a dark room and be left alone.

There are two types of migraines, with Aura or without. Migraines with aura are characterized by experiencing visual problems such as seeing wavy or jagged lines, flashing lights, or having tunnel

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