Headaches are often a stress disorder

According to researchers, headaches are often stress disorders

19/08/2012

The research understands the backgrounds and causes of headaches getting better. Doctors today know much more about what happens in the brain when the headache is plaguing. Therefore, the pain can be treated more targeted and differentiated. For typical stress symptoms, relaxation rather than medication should be prescribed.

Like the magazine „Focus“ reported in its new issues, the view on the number one widespread disease in Germany has basically changed in principle. Increasingly, headaches and migraines are also defined as stress disorder. Instead of prescribing pain-relieving medications, it has become common knowledge in conventional medicine that targeted relaxation exercises such as yoga or progressive muscle relaxation achieve better results for long-term relief under permanent mental stress.

More than half of Germans suffer from headaches
According to the German Headache Consortium, over 50 percent of Germans suffer from recurring headaches. Patients are often of the opinion that the symptoms are caused by environmental factors or the weather. The head of the headache outpatient department at the University Hospital Munich-Großhadern, Prof. Dr. med. Andreas Straube, believes this view „wasted effort“. The headache expert told the news magazine: "The individual triggers are overrated, because headaches are a kind of stress disorder." In areas with Föhnwind (dry fall wind) there are no more afflicted headache, as in the flat country or at the sea, as evaluations showed.

Over-stimulation of the nerves and the brain
This opinion is shared by the recognized headache researcher Dr. med. Hans-Christoph Diener. This one said in the „Focus“: "As a migraine trigger, only alcohol and female hormones are clearly proven by studies." Most patients typically experience headaches because their nerves and brain are over-stimulated, said the physician.

Doctors classify the symptoms into different types of complaints. These different types are, for example, cluster headache, migraine or tension headache. The neurologist dr. Hartmut Göbel explained that about 50 percent „In addition, the migraine sufferers also suffer from tension headaches“.

Bad shutdown and high voltage
According to the medical textbook, doctors often can not clearly assign the symptoms to a clinical picture. Research has shown that patients with migraine are usually awake and sensitive in an unusual way. So the specialist Göbel told the paper: "Your brain can not switch off so well, is always under high voltage and is easily overloaded with stress." These hypersensitivity can be detected today by physicians using electroencephalography (EEG).

In naturopathy numerous treatment options come into play. In addition to relaxation exercises, diet changes in the form of fasting and permanent vegetable diets are recommended. Since many chronic headaches are also caused by pelvic obliquity and tension, manual therapies are also used in osteopathy. (Sb)

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