Mid-week tension can be cause for a real headache
You put in 10-hour days from Monday to Friday and you feel fine, only to wake up after a lie-in on Saturday with a pounding headache. Why is that?
It’s because as the tension of the week subsides, your levels of stress hormones drop, which causes a rapid release of neurotransmitters (the brain’s chemical messengers). These send out impulses to blood vessels to constrict and then dilate, which causes a headache.
Avoid the temptation to sleep in at weekends. More than eight hours’ sleep at a time can bring on a headache. Introduce some relaxation time.
* A more obvious headache trigger is anger – when you are angry, muscles in the back of your neck and scalp tense up, causing a tight band-like sensation around your head. This is a sign of a tension headache.
When you start feeling angry, breathe deeply and slowly. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. This will relax head and neck muscles.
* Poor posture causes tension in the upper back, neck and shoulders, which can lead to a headache. Typically, the pain throbs in the base of the skull and sometimes flashes into the face, especially the forehead.
Avoid sitting or standing in one position for a long period. Sit up straight and support your lower back.
– Eilish O’Regan
Irish Independent