Dear World
WHY do some of us get headaches?
WHY are we suffering with headaches?
WHAT is going on that our head aches?
How bad are our headaches and have we noticed they are getting worse?
Have we noticed that the medication is not cutting it and now it’s affecting our Lifestyle?
Are we always reaching for the headache tablets?
Are we constantly living with some form of tension in our heads?
Are we so Stressed that headaches are like our normal now?
Are we using Solutions like our Caffeine and Smoking1 to keep those headaches buried?
Do we find we have an instant headache if we miss our morning Coffees?
Do we need Alcohol to relax and forget that our head is hurting?
Can we feel the intensity of the prolonged dull pain inside the core of our head?
Can we sense that our head aches more when we have had a bad night with not much Sleep?
Can we work out that our headaches continue when we choose not to Stop and override the pain we feel?
Do we know that worrying brings on the aching head that seems to get worse with our negative thinking?
Do we hate our headaches and see no way out of them and wonder if we just have to put up with them?
Do we accept headaches as normal as the masses all suffer with some form of head ache?
The following is based on Chapter 1 from our forthcoming book –
The Real Truth about Headaches
Our book to be released in paper format will be coming out soon.
CHAPTER 1
What Are Headaches?
What is the meaning of headache?
What are the dictionary definitions?
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Pain in the head (1)
Oxford English Dictionary (now Lexico)
A continuous pain in the head
Informal
A thing or person that causes worry or difficulty; a problem (2)
We have a definition that tells us we feel pain in our head.
Not sure what the informal bit of the Oxford English Dictionary is telling us but let’s take note – we are being told that something or some person out there causes us to worry or have difficulty – call it a problem.
Would it be easy for us to join the dots here and say that our head aches when we have a problem and that means we have an issue with something or someone?
Is there more for us to consider and not just take on board what the dictionary tells us?
Medical Definition of Headache
Headache or head pain sometimes can be difficult to describe but some common symptoms include throbbing, squeezing, constant, unrelenting or intermittent.
The location may be in one part of the face or skull or may be generalized involving the whole head.
The head is one of the most common sites of pain in the body.
Headache may arise spontaneously or may be associated with activity or exercise. It may have an acute onset or it may be chronic in nature with or without episodes of increasing severity.
Headaches are often associated with nausea and vomiting. (3)
Headache: a pain in head with the pain being above the eyes or the ears, behind the head (occipital) or in the back of the upper neck. Headache, like chest pain or back pain has many causes. (4)
Hello
Before we continue, let us look into what the medical definition is saying and explore it further by way of presenting some sensible Questions.
Where on earth is this throbbing coming from?
Where did it start and why are we not aware?
What is this squeezing feeling – like a compression?
WHY is the head aching constantly and what is it trying to Communicate?
What if our head – a part of our body is saying something by way of pain?
What if we make a conscious Commitment to not dismiss the What If questions?
What if we actually had something to do with WHY we get the throbbing or the squeezing in the head department?
What if there is a whole body intelligence that works in a natural way to not harm us but we cause the pain because we choose to live against this?
What if the unrelenting headache is because we are ignoring the subtle signals?
In other words, we start off with the odd one here and there, let’s call that intermittent and not long after they turn into the full whammy?
What if this unrelenting pain that is compressing our head is stopping the natural flow in which we are designed to be and live?
A side note which is relevant –
the word Compression has a meaning that tells us that there is a reduction in volume, which creates an increase in pressure of the fuel mixture in an internal combustion engine before ignition.
Let’s look at this in detail and for one moment suspend all ideals, beliefs and thoughts – in other words have some space to consider what is being presented.
What if we are a vehicle and that means our body enhouses the engine?
We need to fire up and that means ignite, so that the volumes can come through us. Let’s call those volumes multi-dimensional. In other words we get to bring through our body – our engine, the exact vibration and quality needed in the next moment.
In other words, whatever we need is there in an instant – like magic.
Important to note is that if we have not got the fuel mix right, we have problems.
Let’s say here that the fuel mix are Lifestyle Choices and a few examples are we are up Late, no proper Sleep quality, eating Junk Foods, drinking Alcohol, Smoking3, Vaping, busy with Social Media, Gossip or watching Television.
So we can now say that this fuel mix will stop the volumes coming through the engine, which is our body and this is what creates the increase in pressure.
This increase in pressure will affect the Head Office – the department responsible for making the next step, the next move, so to speak.
What if the more we mess with the fuel mix, the more pain and pressure goes directly to the head department because this is the central go to point – HQ?
Example – We are unaware that we are drinking more Alcohol to alter our natural state, which is what this scientifically proven poison does to us. This extra amount of alcohol is no longer cutting it so we need More of the same or something else to give us the same numbing feeling. It is at this point where we may try Drugs or something else. It is at this point where the head department starts rejecting our fuel mix and this comes out as nausea or vomiting.
We could call this a chronic headache because it has become persistent and is constantly recurring because we have really got a fuel mix that is poison to the engine – our vehicle, our body.
Is this making sense?
Next – can a headache actually arise spontaneously or is it because we do not stop and pause and then reflect on our behaviour – call it our movements that led to the moment that we call ‘a sudden headache just came on’.
In other words, we negate and ignore the ‘fuel mix’ mentioned above, let’s call that our Lifestyle Choices. We then make movements that are ill and that means our behaviour is not taking responsibility and boom, before we know it we feel pain in our head.
Next – how serious is this next bit, really?
Headaches may be associated with activity or exercise.
Most of us think that exercise is good for the body, so how can it possibly be linked to pain in our head?
Could it be possible that excess exercise can create pain?
Back to the fuel mix – we have Lifestyle Choices that are going against our natural way of living and we need Solutions to fix us and one thing that we know is that exercise releases the chemicals in the brain that give us that feel good factor. We want more of it so many of us embark on more exercise when the body might be screaming out saying “NO this is Pushing way beyond what we can do”.
On another note, we could reflect on some of our activities that may be creating tension or a pain that we refer to as a headache.
Finally, to complete this commentary on the medical definition of Headache…
Could it be possible that the precise location of where the pain is when we have a headache is indicating a further message to us from our body, be it above the eyes or behind in the occipital region?
Part 2 – Migraines
September 2021
References
(1) (n.d). Merriam-Webster. Retrieved October 16, 2020 from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/headache
(2) (n.d). Lexico. Retrieved October 16, 2020 from
https://www.lexico.com/definition/headache
(3) Wedro, B., Taylor, D.C., & Marks, J.W. (n.d). Headache. MedicineNet.
Retrieved October 18, 2020 from
https://www.medicinenet.com/headache/article.htm
(4) Shiel, W.C. (n.d). Medical Definition of Headache. MedicineNet.
Retrieved October 18, 2020 from
https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11396
Comments 2
NHS News – 3 April 2021
https://www.england.nhs.uk/2021/04/nhs-rolls-out-headache-busting-gadget-across-the-country/
The National Health Service in England, UK have rolled out a headache-busting gadget across the country. They call this a ‘fast track innovation’.
It is a small portable device that can zap away excruciating headaches and is now available to anyone who needs it on the NHS.
The gadget has to be held against the neck and delivers a low level electric current to block pain signals, relieving pain from people suffering from ‘cluster’ headaches.
This article talks about Cluster Headache, which is a primary headache disorder and is known to be uncommon, which means it affects fewer than 1 in 1,000 adults.
The main characteristics for this type of headache is it is frequently occurring albeit brief, but it is an extremely severe headache, which usually focuses on or in around one eye.
For more, read the article again.
11,000 are said to benefit from this device.
68 million current population in the UK.
90% of all adults have tension headaches, is quoted in this article and referenced.
What are the above numbers telling us and are we interested or not?
Some may be saying WHY are we bringing out solutions for an ‘uncommon’ and rare type of debilitating headache, which does not affect the masses?
A reminder again, the masses, that means the majority of us have tension headaches.
Good news for clinicians as they have one more treatment option to offer patients and in particular those that may not respond well to other treatments.
Others may be grateful knowing they are getting something to take away the pain, as that is what we all want. Right?
Do our solutions work or are they short term fixes that may or may not help us to function in life better?
And what is our “better” – do we have a marker and is there a comparison we can relate it to? In other words, is better for one person not having the agony and misery of feeling down and depressed with a chronic pounding head and for another just not having the throbbing pulsing head enough to say we are feeling better, ignoring all other symptoms and ailments that may be showing up and affecting us? Worth considering as we seem to have different versions when it comes to most words. There is no one-unified meaning and so we come up with different things and want it to mean the same but clearly it is not.
We could say well done to the researchers and the makers of this modern headache zapper and let’s all hope it has the answers we seek for the long term.
But and a very big BUT. Can we send them back now and tell them we want to know the root cause of WHY and HOW we get any form of head-ache in the first place?
It is great that we have so much support to help us medically and this is yet again more good news, we could say. We are so advanced and this allows us to get our life ‘normal’ once again as we don’t like pain. This is understandable.
A question to consider – while we use the treatments and support available from the medical professionals and our health systems, what if we questioned ourselves about how and why we have got to this point?
For example – when did our headaches start and when did they begin to get worse?
Can we reflect on our lifestyle choices and any incidents or situations that may have occurred that could possibly be a contributory factor to getting headaches?
Did something happen and can we join the dots and have realisations?
Could this be a great step towards the real antidote for headaches or are we going to just dismiss any form of enquiry that may expose the root of our ills?
We were not born with a headache but somewhere on that trajectory growing up, we had pain in our head region and here we are today forming part of a very big statistic and waiting for more remedies, solutions and aids to lessen the ache.
It is high time we stopped long enough to question anything and everything with a big dose of honesty, as we may find some answers and then make some sensible choices thereafter that support us with our regular head-aches.
Yes, let’s use all the medical support we can get as that helps us, but at the same time keep asking questions so we eventually wake up and realise how and why we created our headaches. That way we remove blame and start to open the door to that word most of us hate – Responsibility.
University of Calgary – 4 March 2024
https://ucalgary.ca/news/vaping-and-other-lifestyle-factors-linked-frequent-headaches-youth
Vaping and other lifestyle factors linked to frequent headaches in youth, according to a new study.
Other lifestyle factors linked with frequent headaches are drinking alcohol or binge drinking, not having regularly timed meals, staying up late, more than 14 hours of screen time per week and being exposed to household smoking.
Researchers found a strong link between frequent headaches, vaping and not having regularly timed meals.
Example – teenagers who were vaping daily had twice the rate of frequent headaches compared to their peers. With frequent headaches, a child may also be more likely to develop chronic migraine.
“These results are important because there is surprisingly little research looking at lifestyle and headaches in kids and teenagers.
As a headache neurologist, it is critical to understand the role that lifestyle factors play because prescribing medication alone is not the ideal way of treating headaches at any age.
We looked at a sample that is representative of over 5 million Canadian youth and were able to show that substance use, particularly vaping was associated with high-frequency headaches in teenagers.
In youth aged 5 and over, meal irregularity, staying up late, screen time and passive exposure to household smoking were linked to high-frequency headaches.”
Dr. Serena Orr, MD, Paediatric Neurologist and Assistant Professor in the Cumming School of Medicine
The study was published in the medical journal Neurology
https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000209160