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Posted by on Jul 8, 2015 in TellMeWhy |

Why Do People Get Headaches?

Why Do People Get Headaches?

Why Do People Get Headaches? Headaches actually occur in the muscles, blood vessels, and nerves found in the head and neck. When these areas experience swelling or tightening, they exert pressure on nerves that then send pain messages to the brain. The end result is a headache!

The most common type of headache is known as a tension headache. Tension headaches occur when head and neck muscles contract too hard or too often. The dull, constant pain of a tension headache often feels like someone is squeezing your head.

Some people experience another type of headache known as a migraine. Migraines are especially severe headaches that cause sharp, throbbing pain. People who get migraines often feel nauseous, and the pain of a migraine can be so bad that it causes a person to vomit.

Headaches have all sorts of different kinds of causes. Often headaches are related to another illness you have, such as a cold or the flu. When you get better, the headache goes away. If a headache isn’t related to an illness, it may have been triggered by something else.

For example, common headache triggers include: lack of sleep, poor nutrition, and exposure to sunlight, overheating the body, stress, motion sickness, too much television or time spent staring at a screen, strong odors, allergies, and caffeine.

One thing experts know for sure is that a tendency to get headaches can run in the family. So if your parents get headaches often, you might experience them in the future, too.

If you experience a headache, you want to get rid of it as soon as possible. In addition to pain, headaches can make you feel distracted, tired, and irritable. Headaches can make even the simplest tasks seem nearly impossible.

So what should you do if you have a headache? Tell an adult! You may just need to take a nap or rest for a bit. Often closing your eyes in a dark, quiet room for a few minutes will help ease the pain of a headache. An adult might also give you an over-the-counter medicine for your headache.