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Helps with:
Phobias
Fear of Flying
Confidence
Public
Speaking
Quit Smoking
Weight Loss
Eating Disorders
Sleep Disorders
Stress
Depression
Anxiety
Anger
Pain Control
Tension
Headaches
Study & Exams
Dental Fear
and more...
Teaches:
self-hypnosis
Does not help with
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Hypnotherapy for Tension Headaches
What are tension-type headaches?
What causes tension-type headaches?
What are the treatments for tension-type headache?
How hypnotherapy can help?
How many sessions will I need?
Most people
describe a tension headache as a constant dull, achy feeling on both sides of
the head. Some people with tension headaches also have a tight feeling in their
head or neck muscles. Tension headaches usually begin slowly and gradually. They
often start in the middle of the day, but often they also develop during the
night, together with jaws pain or tension in the neck. Tension headaches may be
mild or severe.
Most people have a tension-type headache from time to time. It is common to have
1 or 2 each month. Sometimes they develop more often, typically during times of
stress. Some people have frequent headaches. A tension headache may last from 15
minutes to a week, but mostly it is several hours. About 3 in 100 people have a
chronic tension-type headache on most days.
The tension-type headaches are often called stress headaches. The most common
reason for tension headaches is a widely defined stress, emotional or physical.
Sometimes, but not always, the tension headache is associated with the muscle
tension.
Most common factors causing tension headaches are:
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Emotional tension, anxiety, or stress. Very often depression is associated with chronic
tension headaches. |
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Physical tension in the muscles of the scalp and neck. For example, poor posture at a
desk may cause the neck and scalp muscles to tense. Long hours at the computer
are very common contributor, as it also leads to eyestrain. |
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Sleep deprivation. |
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Something may trigger a tension-type headache. For example:
a food, bright sunlight, illness, a side-effect of medication, cold, heat,
tiredness, noise, caffeine, etc. |
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Painkillers. The overuse of headache tablets that you may
take regularly can sometimes cause headaches similar to tension-type headaches.
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Most common
treatments of the tension type headaches include treating symptoms.
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Painkillers, like Paracetamol, usually work well for mild to moderate
headaches. However, they cannot be taken for more then a few days in a row, so
they are not a solution to chronic tension headache; they can even cause the
“medication headache” if used too often. |
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Anti-inflammatory
painkillers, like
Ibuprofen. They may work better, especially if there is associated neck pain
connected with arthritis, but cannot be used for long, as they have side effects
such as stomach problems. |
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Antidepressants
are sometimes prescribed by a doctor, as they may help in
severe case even if the depression is not diagnosed. |
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Relaxation
to release both mental and physical stress is a better solution.
Going for a walk, some easy exercise, a few stretches, having a good sleep, a
massage is a great help. Works very well for mild to moderate headache, even
with chronic cases when the lifestyle is changed and relaxation is included in
daily routine. |
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Alternative medicine
aimed at relaxing muscle tension, like acupuncture,
massage, aromatherapy, even various mechanical devices. Sometimes very good
result can be achieved with those methods, because they not only deal with the
symptoms, but usually also calm the mind and release stress. |
Hypnotherapy provides help on many levels, not only by treating symptoms or
immediate triggers, like stress or insomnia, but also by resolving the
underlying cause and its source.
The most important
benefit of using hypnotherapy is that it deals with the hidden cause of the
tension. Very often the events from the past, especially events from the
early childhood, but also traumatic events from our adult lives are the reason
for the physical tension in the body and associated pain.
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Pain relief
is achieved in hypnosis without the need of any
painkillers. The pain relief methods can be easily taught and they work very
well with occasional severe headaches. With chronic tension headaches is better
to clear the source of the headache. |
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Removing the muscle tension.
I always teach the
muscle relaxation in the first session, because this is the basic way to calm
the mind and to deepen the hypnotic state. Quite often the release from muscle
tension and headache is a surprising “side effect” for clients who came to me with
completely different goals, like quit smoking or fear of flying, not even
dreaming that the tension could be so easily elevated. |
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Stress relief is achieved on many levels, not only by
learning the relaxation exercise and how to deal with everyday stress, but also
by defining and implementing the healthy lifestyle change, which combines
healthy eating, adequate rest, enjoyment and satisfaction from work, fulfillment
in private life and more. |
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Solving the underlying issues,
like insomnia, anxiety,
relationship problems etc |
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Solving the underlying emotional cause and its source.
Chronic tension headaches very often go for years; they get worse with stress
and tiredness and could be severe with strong triggers. In many cases clients
think it is normal to feel tension in they necks and jaws, or all over their
scalps, with associated mild headache all the time. The triggers are usually
deeply rooted in our past and are subcouncious. |
All the above is usually achieved in just a few sessions. Depending on severity
of tension headaches, it could be sometimes only two sessions, especially if the
underlying issue is just stress. However, when there is a chronic tension
headache, lasting for years, the underlying issues and causes need to be
addressed and it may take on average five sessions and even more if there is
depression or long lasting anxiety.
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