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5 Surprising Causes of Chronic Headaches — And How to Treat Them

Integrated Pain Solutions Blog 5 Surprising Causes of Chronic Headaches — And How to Treat Them
5 Surprising Causes of Chronic Headaches — And How to Treat Them

We all get headaches from time to time. But if you have chronic headaches — ones that regularly come back — a specific cause is probably to blame. 

Some causes are fairly obvious. You might have persistent head pain after an injury like a car accident, or you might get a headache for a while when you’re trying to kick caffeine. Other headache causes can be fairly surprising, though.

Fortunately, you don’t have to figure out what’s causing your headache on your own — or how to alleviate it. At Integrated Pain Solutions in Stamford, Connecticut, Dr. Halina Snowball specializes in headaches. She helps you assess what’s causing your headache, then personalizes a treatment to address your head pain at its root cause. 

Let’s look at five surprising causes of chronic headaches to get started. 

1. Stress

If you feel stressed a lot of the time, you might develop what’s called a tension headache. These headaches usually make your head feel achy, tight, or tender. 

Monitor your stress levels. If you notice that your head pain worsens when you’re particularly wound up, talk to Dr. Snowball. With stress mitigation techniques like yoga or massage therapy, she can help you find ways to ease your tension — and the accompanying headache. 

2. Not enough water

You probably already know that a headache is a telltale sign of dehydration. What makes this a surprising cause worth noting is that plenty of people think to drink water if they have a one-off headache, but less frequently reach for water for chronic headaches.

Just because your headache is chronic doesn’t mean it’s caused by something complicated. A simple increase in your water intake could bring you relief. 

3. Not enough sleep

This is another cause people often attribute to sporadic headaches but ignore with chronic ones. Sleep can play a big role in migraines and other chronic headache types. Talk to Dr. Snowball about your sleep habits so she can evaluate if they’re contributing to your head pain. 

4. Other illness

Your headache might be a symptom of something else that’s going on in your body. Some common causes of headaches include:

Ultimately, a headache could be your body trying to signal that something is wrong. Talk to Dr. Snowball so she can assess if a serious health condition is causing your headache and, if so, how to best address it. 

5. Exposure to harmful substances or environments

Your head pain could be triggered by:

In other words, your environment could be to blame for your headache. Dr. Snowball can discuss your surroundings with you to see if a certain exposure could be behind your headaches. 

As you can probably tell from this list alone, a lot of different factors come into play when evaluating headaches. Fortunately, Dr. Snowball has the expertise to help you. Call our office at 203-293-0549 or request an appointment online today.

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