How Do You Know You Have a Tension Headache?

Your physician can usually diagnose tension headaches by asking you questions about your health and lifestyle and by examining you. He or she may diagnose tension headaches if you have headache pain on both sides of your head, along with continuous pressure or tightness around your forehead, temples, neck, or back of your head.

Treatment and Prevention

Occasional tension headaches can be treated with ice, massage, and/or medications such as aspirin, Tylenol, or Motrin. They are very common and do NOT indicate that you have a serious disease. The best way to prevent tension headaches is to be aware of your body. For example, stressful situations that make the neck muscles tense up are a trigger for many people. If you feel this happening, take time to relax, stretch, and massage your neck right away to avoid a tension headache later. Stress reduction techniques can be useful. Attention to posture can also be helpful—avoid positions that strain the neck. Computer consoles should be at the proper distance and height. Regular exercise and stretching can be ways to manage tension headaches.

Daily medications are sometimes used to prevent frequent tension headaches if they don't respond well to other drugs and are frequent and severe enough. Tricyclic antidepressant medications (such as nortriptyline) are often good at stopping or improving tension headaches.

Take a moment to listen to The Permanente Medical Group Tension Headache podcast. Additionally, all of the advice for migraines also applies to tension headaches.