Headaches: common causes and helpful treatments

Last week YourLifeChoices reported that the makers of Panadol had reduced their supermarket package sizes to 16 tablets per pack. The change, which brings pack sizes into line with what will become mandatory next February, got me thinking about headaches.

In particular, my mind turned to the causes of headaches. Luckily I don’t suffer from frequent headaches, but they occur often enough for me to always have painkillers on hand. 

Occasionally my headaches are self-inflicted, by which I mean I will wake up with one after a big night out. A night of drinking, in other words. Such nights are far rarer than they used to be fortunately, and the source of the headache is more likely to be red wine than beer.

Sometimes, though, I’ll wake up in the morning with a headache without having touched a drop of alcohol the day before. What’s causing those headaches? A quick look on a couple of academic and government websites tells me the possibilities are many.

Headaches 101

Just looking at the long list of causes on the Victorian government’s Better Health Channel almost gave me a headache. They can be many and varied. Before diving into that list, though, it’s worth looking at what’s happening inside when you get a headache. 

The pain will be trigger by an irritation or inflammation to one or more of the structures in your head. And there are quite few structures in there, including:

• the muscles and skin of the head
• the nerves of the head and neck
• the arteries leading to the brain
• the membranes of the ear, nose and throat
• the sinuses, which are air-filled cavities inside the head that form part of the respiratory system.

That’s not an even an exhaustive list, but it’s long enough to make me wonder why I don’t get headaches more often.

And just to complicate things further, sometimes the location of your headache is not in the location of the cause. This is known as referred pain. A common example is a headache arising from a sore neck.

The causes

As to the causes of your headache, the Better Health Channel lists many. They include stress, muscular tension, dental or jaw problems, infections, diet, eye problems, hormonal influences, high blood pressure and medications. 

Is that a long enough list? Well, there are also, disorders of the ear, nose throat, or nervous system and injury to the head, neck or spine. But wait, there’s more! Your headache could be caused by poor posture, hangover, temperature extremes, dehydration, loud noise, arthritis, temporal arteritis and even meningitis.

Before you get into a panic about some of the more serious-sounding conditions on the list, here’s an important point. The most common type of headache is the tension headache. Two out of three people will have tension headaches in their lifetime.

These headaches feel like a tight band of pressure around the head. They’re often associated with muscle tightness in the head, neck or jaw and commonly caused by physical or emotional stress.

Treating headaches

Good news! Tension headaches are best treated by making lifestyle adjustments, such as exercise, diet, stress management and attention to posture.

There are also a number of relative simply things that may help reduce your headache pain. WebMD recommends trying a few different ones, to see what works best for you. They include:

• resting in a dark and quiet room
• relaxing via deep breathing or other techniques
• treating with either cold (ice pack) or heat (hot water bottle)
• massage and/or acupressure techniques
• exercise
• the good old-fashioned over-the-counter medicines such as paracetamol and ibuprofen.

And, of course, if the headache persists for more than a couple of days, seek medical advice. 

Do you get headaches regularly? Have you found a treatment that works for you? Let us know via the comments section below.

Also read: Is joint pain inevitable, or can we treat it?

Disclaimer: This article contains general information about health issues and is not advice. For health advice, consult your medical practitioner.