| What Are Some Of The Frequent Causes Of Headaches? |
When you think about the the various types of headaches and sufferers it should not come as any surprise that the causes of headaches are just as diverse. There are countless possible reasons for a headache including underlying medical conditions such as the fortunately rare instances of cerebral aneurysms and brain tumors. But the most common headaches have generally common causes.
In all too many instances simple eyestrain such as is experienced whan staring for too long at a computer screen can produce a headache. In other cases, ordinary inflammation of the sinuses caused by a head cold or allergy can be the cause. Overuse of certain prescription medicines can also result in a headache.
Though the precise cause is not known in every instance, narrowing of the blood vessels is believed to be the cause in a range of cases. Pain sensitive nerve fibers in the head line the walls of the blood vessels and when they contract the nerves send signals to the brain. As luck would have it, the brain itself cannot feel pain since it does not contain any pain sensitive nerve cells and tension-type or cluster headaches result.
But your blood vessels are able to dilate as well as contract and when they do so one theory at least holds that cluster headaches and migraines can result. Present research proposes that there are also several other far more important factors involved when it comes to migraines.
Tension or more accurately tension-type headaches can arise from other causes such as tension in the muscles of the shoulder, neck and even the jaw. Those who have experienced TMJ disorder which is a disorder caused by tension of the temporomandibular joint causing the jaw to tighten against the skull will be all too familiar with this.
In more serious cases headaches will arise out of some underlying disease and these are usually said to be 'secondary headaches'. The catalogue of underlying conditions that can cause headaches is lengthy and includes everything from scarlet fever to irritable bowel syndrome.
Frequently environmental factors also play a significant part. Carbon monoxide poisoning such as that resulting from the gas produced by an automobile exhaust or many water heaters can lead to severe headaches and in fact a headache is one of the principle symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. Other causes include allergies, lead poisoning and food poisoning.
Even where food is not itself toxic as would be the case where food is carrying a bacterial infection some people will be sensitive to compounds that will not affect people in general. Such common foods as cheese and chocolate will cause headaches in some people as will caffeine, some preservatives and red wine.
But posture, position and a variety of other controllable factors may well be some of the most common causes. As a growing number of people work with computers every day so we see more eyestrain, jaw stress and neck tension.
Almost 85% to 90% of headaches are common tension headaches which are normally the result of one or more of the factors detailed here. This means that in the overwhelming majority of cases the cure for your headache is simple and is within your control.
 www.TheMigraineHeadacheCenter.com provides a wide range of information about headaches including sinus headaches and migraine headaches
Article Source: UnArchived Articles
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