Rarely, headache is a symptom of a dangerous condition such cerebral aneurysm, brain tumor, stroke, TIA, meningitis, or encephalitis. Very high blood pressure can cause headaches and this situation is a medical emergency. However, high blood pressure usually causes no symptoms at all, despite the damage that years of high blood pressure can do to blood vessels, heart, brain, and kidneys. If you have any doubt about your headache, contact your physician.

Over 45 million Americans (more than the 33 million sufferers of asthma, diabetes and coronary heart disease combined) get chronic, recurring headaches. Of these, 29.5 million suffer from migraines annually

In excess of 4 billion dollars are spent annually on over-the-counter pain relievers for headache. (Many of these are ineffective for the headache sufferer).

It is estimated that industry loses 50 billion dollars per year due to absenteeism and medical expenses caused by headache, and migraine sufferers lose more than 157 million workdays each year.

The most common type of headache is "tension headache". Tension headaches generally develop gradually, often involve the entire head as well as the neck and shoulders. They probably are not actually caused by increased muscle tension, although muscle relaxation techniques can be very useful in treatment. Most people get tension headaches occasionally and these can usually be treated simply. Some people get them often, but there are usually some useful interventions to help decrease the number of sick days.

The vast majority of headaches are not medically serious. Most can be controlled by the use of simple medications - and in the case of tension headaches, by altering habits or lifestyles.

For more reading of our tension headache and migraine headache informational articles visit the rest the site..

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