Aspiring Spirit

Even though the brain itself does not have nerves to feel pain, several parts of the skull such as the scalp, face, mouth and throat have nerve fibers that are sensitive to pain and which can hurt. Headache - or cephalgia - usually means any kind of pain that one could feel in one or several of these sensitive parts of the skull.

Headaches can be classified into two types: Primary headaches, to which stress headache, cluster headache and migraine headache belong and which are not caused by any disorder; And Secondary headaches which are caused by another condition.

Headaches are the most frequent nervous disease. Everybody will be affected by headache at some point in their lifetime, but for 55 million people in America, it is a recurring problem. The World Health Organization claims that one in 20 adult suffers from frequent headaches, with females being more exposed than males.

Headaches can be severely handicapping and are able to very negatively affect the lives of people who have to go through them. Work capacity is lessened for those people, which can be detrimental to their economic situation.

Social skills are also limited as the pain, or the fear thereof, sometimes makes people more likely to be upset. People with migraine may even have to constantly pay attention to what they eat, what they see, and also what they smell, as certain strong or displeasing sensations may be hurtful.

Since headaches are seen as such a common, trivial condition, the individuals who suffer from them on an everyday basis also have to deal with the incomprehension of their peers. This social barrier can also hold people back from trying to get the attention of a doctor and looking for a proper treatment. However before it can be treated, your headache has to be “identified”.

We have already seen that there were two main sorts of headache: Primary and Secondary, each subdivided into a lot of different subcategories. Their symptoms can change as well as their causes and, obviously, how they should be treated. That is why they need to be diagnosed by a physician so that you can receive appropriate treatment.

Stress headache, also known as tension headache, is the most usual kind of primary headache and is responsible for nearly 90% of all headaches. It is usually considered to be stress-related or related to musculoskeletal problems in the neck.

Tension headache is mainly incidental and can persist from several minutes to several hours, but can sometimes last for numerous days in the most acute cases. It is usually described as a strong steady pressure, usually on both sides of the head, or spreading around it, occasionally also affecting the neck.

Migraine is somewhat different and is thought to most certainly have a genetic basis. Migraines occur when the brain releases substances that cause pain, that spread around the nerves and vessels in the head. Migraine generally happens on a monthly basis and persists for a few hours, with other symptoms like nausea and intolerance of normal degrees of light and noise.

Cluster headaches often happen frequently and are short lasting. They are also very painful. They happen in clusters of six to twelve weeks and every 1 or 2 years, usually at the same time of the year. The pain is extremely bad and affects all of the head, generally starting with the eye, and then affecting the forehead, nose and mouth. It is much more rare than some other sorts of headache and usually affects the male population.

Headaches are usually cured with over-the-counter pain medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen or paracetamol. A doctor could also prescribe avoiding some common causes of headaches like noise or certain foods.

Caffeine, Magnesium and Vitamin B2 have also shown to be useful in order to treat migraine. Drugs however are costly and sometimes have undesired side effects, especially for people who must use them on a regular basis. That is why you may want to consider another way of preventing and fighting the different sorts of headache.

NLP and Hypnosis have indeed proven to be effective and will help you to dissipate pain in any part of your body, including the head, as well as becoming more relaxed meanwhile. Stress is a very common cause of headache, and adequate hypnotic methods have been developed to dissipate both stress and headaches within seconds.

People who have migraine or cluster headache are usually able to feel the first symptoms before it actually happens, and could learn self-hypnosis techniques to abort them before they get too painful. Hypnotists who understand how handicapping a headache can be have designed these therapeutic techniques.

Hypnotherapy is a drug free modality that will help you find the relief you were looking for. Headache is a grave affliction with several forms, affecting millions of people worldwide. Learn to fight it and to relax with the soothing method of self-hypnosis.

Alan B. Densky, CH is a Hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner. He has created a very effective headache and migraine relief self hypnosis program. His Neuro-VISION hypnotism site also offers a free video self hypnosis blog, Free MP3’s, and a complete hypnosis article index.

- Alan B. Densky, CH