Strength training for weak muscles reduces tension headaches

A new study has found that strength training may possibly hold the key to eliminating or reducing headaches resulting from tension or stress.

Danish researchers have found through a small study involving 60 adults with a history of tension headaches and 30 healthy individuals that neck and shoulder muscles were up to 26 per cent weaker in people with regular tension headaches, compared to those without.

For the study, researchers tested participants’ neck extensor muscles when they leaned their heads back. Further, neck flexor muscles were also tested when they bent their heads forward. The strength of the trapezius muscle running down the back of the neck into the shoulder was also tested.

The results gave strong indication that there is a possible link between tension or stress related headaches and weaker muscles as healthy people in the study had 26 per cent stronger neck extension than those with tension-type headaches. However, the study found that there was only a slight difference between groups in neck flexor strength. As a result, the ratio of extension and flexion strength was 12 percent larger in the healthy comparison group.

“In order to be able to treat tension-type headache patients non-pharmacologically . . . It is very important to work towards a further understanding of muscle-skeletal impact on tension-type headaches,” lead author Bjarne H. Madsen, a physiotherapist at the Danish Headache Center in Glostrup, said by email to Reuters.

Researchers revealed that when neck extension muscles were weaker, flexor muscles were stronger, which could be pulling their heads forward. Further, healthy people had more shoulder strength when they raised each arm out to the side.

The researcher notes that increase in use of computers, laptops and tablets has lead to increase in the amount of time people sit with a protruded head posture – something that contributes to pain in shoulder and neck areas.

Does more stress equal more headaches?

A 2014 study by University Hospital of University Duisburg-Essen in Germany provided evidence that having more stress in your life leads to more headaches.

For the study, 5,159 people age 21 to 71 in the general population were surveyed about their stress levels and headaches four times a year for two years. Participants stated how many headaches they had per month and rated their stress level on a scale of zero to 100.

A total of 31 per cent of the participants had tension-type headache, 14 per cent had migraine, 11 percent had migraine combined with tension-type headache and for 17 per cent the headache type was not classified. Those with tension-type headache rated their stress at an average of 52 out of 100. For migraine, it was 62 out of 100 and 59 for those with migraine and tension-type headache.

For each type of headache, an increase in stress was associated with an increase in the number of headaches per month. For those with tension headache, an increase of 10 points on the stress scale was associated with a 6.3-percent increase in the number of headache days per month.

For migraine, the number of headache days per month went up by 4.3 percent, and 4 percent for those with migraine and tension headache. The results were adjusted to account for factors that could affect the number of headaches, such as drinking, smoking and frequent use of headache drugs.

Ravi