Who has a headache or only takes painkillers? The combination of Chinese and Western treatment will keep you away from headaches!

Mental illness is the most common complication of tension-type headache. Patients with depression have sleep process and structural disorders. Headache patients with mental illness can complicate the clinical manifestations of headache patients, resulting in poor initial response to treatment. Insomnia is considered to be the main risk factor for the increase of headache frequency in patients with tension-type headache. Insomnia is related to the deterioration of headache symptoms and mental illness complications. The effect of headache on sleep is not only that it is difficult to fall asleep again after waking up early, but also that excessive daytime drowsiness is a common sleep disorder after insomnia. Studies have shown that there is a higher frequency of headache attacks and a higher tendency towards drowsiness. The relationship between the clinical manifestations of headache and dementia has been considered to be more than a simple coincidence, with a 105% increase in the risk of dementia in patients with primary headaches. Women, ≥ 65-year-old tension headache patients with complications (such as diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, depression, etc.) have a higher risk of secondary dementia.

I believe that many people have a headache in their lives, sometimes even normal work and life can not be carried out, so once there is an unstoppable headache, how to alleviate it? In fact, most people's headaches are tension-type headaches, as long as the right way to alleviate this "headache" is not a problem.

What is a tension headache?

Many people's headaches are caused by the stress of work and life. If you find that your headache often occurs when you are stressed, and you feel tight when you have a headache, the pain is mild to moderate, and mild activity can relieve it, it is likely that your headache will be tension-type.

Tension-type headache is the most common headache disease, with an annual prevalence rate of 26%-38% worldwide. Most tension-type headaches are paroxysmal and self-limited.

• Tension headaches may have the following complications:

(1) affective disorder: essenceDivine disease is the most common complication of tension-type headache, mainly depression and anxiety. Studies have shown that patients with depression have sleep process and structural disorders, and cognitive ability is also impaired to a certain extent. If patients are in a state of depression for a long time, it will even cause serious damage to the intestinal mucosal barrier function and further worsen their physical and mental health.

Headache patients with mental illness can complicate the clinical manifestations of headache patients, significantly reduce the quality of life, increase the burden, such as unstable employment, reduced income and low career success rate, resulting in poor initial response to treatment and affecting long-term prognosis.

(2) Sleep disorder:

① insomnia:Insomnia is considered to be the main risk factor for the increase of headache frequency in patients with tension-type headache. Insomnia is related to the deterioration of headache symptoms and mental illness complications.

② oversleeps during the day:The effect of headache on sleep is not only that it is difficult to fall asleep again after waking up early, but also that excessive daytime drowsiness is a common sleep disorder after insomnia. Studies have shown that there is a higher frequency of headache attacks and a higher tendency towards drowsiness.

(3) Cognitive impairment:The relationship between clinical manifestations of headache and dementia has been considered to be more than a simple coincidence. People with primary headaches have a 105% increased risk of dementia. Population-based studies have found that women, ≥ 65-year-olds or tension-type headache patients with complications (such as diabetes, hypertension, stroke, depression, etc.) have a higher risk of secondary dementia.

Second, do not panic when you encounter tension-type headaches. Traditional Chinese and western medicine have their own tricks.

(1) ingenious tactics of traditional Chinese medicine

The main drugs of ① are Radix Paeoniae Alba and Radix Glycyrrhizae.

Experts believe that tension-type headache at the beginning of the pain is not dramatic, like kneading Xi press, in line with the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine deficiency syndrome pain, indicating that the patient is insufficient, Yin blood deficiency, muscle and pulse loss, before the onset of the disease in a hidden state, under the stimulation of exogenous and internal injury, Yin blood deficiency aggravated, internal and external evil, muscles and veins loss aggravated, anxious pain and onset. In view of the mechanism of this disease, patients often use Radix Paeoniae Alba combined with roasted licorice soft tendons to relieve pain. The dosage of Radix Paeoniae Alba is generally 4-5 times that of roasted licorice, and the analgesic effect is the best at this time.

② attaches importance to the use of anti-wind drugs:

Tension-type headache is often induced or aggravated by feeling wind evil, so special attention should be paid to the use of anti-wind drugs in treatment. Such as Fangfeng, Notopterygium, Duhuo, Asarum, Bupleurum, Cimicifuga, Chuanxiong, Ligusticum, Schizonepeta tenuifolia and other drugs. Dispelling wind is the commonness of many drugs, but the nature and taste are different, which makes each medicine play a role in dispelling cold, clearing heat, removing dampness, soothing the liver and removing blood stasis, and some drugs can be used as meridian-inducing drugs.

Some drugs have the effect of dispelling wind and dispelling pathogen and relieving wind in the liver at the same time, the medicine is mild and widely used. Tianma disperses evil and relieves wind, "the main wind is painful" ("Huiyan of Materia Medica"), modern pharmacological research has a good sedative and analgesic effect; convenient friends suggest taking Tianma Xingnao capsule with Gastrodia elata as monarch medicine.

Tianma Xingnao capsule has the effect of nourishing liver and kidney, dredging collaterals and relieving pain. it is used for headache, dizziness, memory loss, insomnia, slow response, tinnitus and lumbar acid caused by deficiency of liver and kidney.

Gastrodia elata is the king in the prescription, which tastes sweet and flat, enters the liver meridian, calms the liver and relieves wind and stops spasm. Earth dragon, salty taste, return to the liver, stomach, lung, bladder meridian, clear heat and calm the liver, relieve wind and stop spasm, dredge collaterals, remove arthralgia and relieve pain. Acorus tatarinowii, taste pungent, bitter, sexual lukewarm, return to the heart, liver and spleen meridians, resolving phlegm and resuscitation, resolving dampness and qi, dispelling wind and arthralgia, reducing swelling and relieving pain. Yuanzhi, taste bitter, pungent, sexual lukewarm, return to the heart, kidney and lung meridians, calm the mind and wisdom, remove phlegm, detumescence. Cooked Rehmannia glutinosa, taste sweet, sexual lukewarm, return to the liver and kidney meridian, nourish blood, replenish essence and fill marrow. Cistanche deserticola, sweet, salty, warm, tonifying kidney yang, tonifying essence and blood. The combination of various medicines can achieve the effect of nourishing liver and kidney, calming the liver and relieving wind, dredging collaterals and relieving pain.

(2) Western medicine ingenious plan

① drug therapy:

• Symptomatic treatment:It is suitable for symptomatic treatment for paroxysmal tension-type headache, especially for patients with occasional tension-type headache. Treatment can be treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, acetaminophen, etc., single drug or compound preparation.However, attention should be paid not to abuse analgesics, as they can cause headaches for excessive use of drugs.

• Prevention and treatment:Preventive treatment should be used for frequent and chronic tension-type headaches. commonly used preventive drugs include amitriptyline, eperisone hydrochloride, mirtazapine, venlafaxine and so on. Drug treatment should start with a low dose and gradually increase the dose according to the effect and tolerability. once the effective dose is reached, the treatment usually lasts for 6-12 months, and then gradually decreases.

Reference:
Lin Yaming, Chen Wei, Hu Xianyuan, Duan Zhifang. Expert consensus on clinical application of Tianma Xingnao capsule in the treatment of vascular cognitive impairment and neurogenic headache [J]. Chinese Journal of traditional Chinese Medicine, 2021 Journal 39 (08): 255-258.

Liu Xiaohui, Gao Huizhong, Xue Guofang. Study on the pathogenesis of tension-type headache [J]. Journal of brain and Neurological Diseases, 2023, 31 (01): 64-67.