What should I do if I have a headache when I have to take an exam?

As the midterm, high school, and final exams. Exam season approaches, some students experience mental tension and the resulting tension-type headaches, such as bilateral temporal, occipitotemporal, posterior occipital, or longer periods of tightness or distension around the head, with tenderness or pressure pain in the muscles in the painful areas.

How to relieve it? Liang Dinglong, deputy chief physician of Tui-Na Department and head of Wo-Xiang East Clinic of Xiamen Chinese Medicine Hospital, teaches some self-relaxation training and massage methods that can effectively relieve the symptoms.

Wen/Reporter Bai Li Correspondent Ni Jingying

Cartoon / calf

Sit properly and eat less headache-triggering food

Liang Dinglong introduced that tension headache, also known as tension-type headache or muscle contraction headache, is the most common type of primary headache, accounting for 78% of all headache types.

This type of headache is manifested as a longer period of tightness or distension in both temporal, occipitotemporal, posterior occipital or around the head during daily activities, with tenderness or pressure pain in the muscle at the painful area. However, the symptoms can also be effectively relieved through active and standardized treatment or self-relaxation and training and massage.

First of all, patients should not be too anxious and can identify the triggers by creating a headache diary to record the time and duration of the headache so that the doctor can understand the frequency and causes of the headache and thus develop a more appropriate treatment plan.

For example, inappropriate furniture (tables, chairs, etc.) And improper sitting posture can lead to a prolonged bad position of the body. This poor posture can lead to various bone, spine, and muscle problems, which in turn can lead to headaches.

Second, diet can also trigger headaches. Liang Dinglong said, the daily diet should be light, more fruits and vegetables, high protein food, which is conducive to supplementing nutrition, strengthening the body and improving resistance. Also drink more water, as dehydration is one of the factors that can cause headaches.

Foods rich in tyrosine, such as cheese cheese and chocolate, tend to cause blood vessel spasm and trigger headache, which should be avoided; sugar substitute foods and milk tea tend to over-stimulate or interfere with nerve endings, increase muscle tension and trigger pain; coffee, alcohol and cigarette will stimulate the nervous system, disturb sleep and aggravate and trigger headache.

He said that a healthy and regular lifestyle should be established, with reasonable work and rest arrangements and moderate exercise. Ensure sufficient sleep and avoid staying up late.

Relaxation, stretching and acupuncture points can help relieve headaches quickly

For tension headache, Liang Dinglong introduced several tips to take people to self-exercise through relaxation, stretching and acupressure, which can quickly relieve emotional tension and headache.

1. Relaxation of neck and shoulder muscles

Establish the good habit of shaking hands and expanding the chest during recess. The specific operation is: stand with legs apart, hands naturally down, palms relative, shoulder joints as the fulcrum to shake hands, keep the arms straight, shake arms to the sky and underground, shoulders remain relaxed; then do chest expansion exercise. These two movements 30 times each.

2. Neck muscle stretching

Sit up straight and cross your fingers behind your head. Gently pull your head forward with your hands and feel the muscle stretch for 10 seconds. Gently stretch your head with your hands at an oblique angle of 45 degrees, alternating between left and right, until you feel the muscle stretch and maintain it for 10 seconds.

3. Pectoral muscle stretch

Stand at the door with your elbows bent at 90 degrees. Raise your right arm so that your upper arm is parallel to the floor and place your forearm on the side of the doorway. Move your shoulders and chest forward to the left until your right shoulder feels stretched. You can move your arm up and down to exercise different parts of the same muscle, hold this position for 20 seconds, then switch to the other side and repeat.

4. Press the temporalis muscle (temples)

Use both index and middle fingers to press on the temples, and open and close the jaw several times while pressing. Then slowly move your fingers clockwise in this area until you feel discomfort, and again open and close your jaw several times.

5. Press and rub the Fengchi point

Thumbs of both hands pressed behind the occiput and the cervical junction in the depression, slow pressure and kneading action, soreness and swelling for 20 seconds each.

6. Press the face and head muscles

There are a large number of specific muscles on the face and scalp that can relieve headaches. The orbicularis oculi at the edge of the eye sockets, just below the eyebrows; the zygomaticus major just above the corners of the mouth; the bite muscle two centimeters in front of the corners of both jaws; the frontalis at the forehead; the occipitalis frontalis on the line between the middle of the ears at the back of the head; and the vastus cervicis in the direction of the earlobe downward.

Apply pressure over the muscle with your index and middle fingers. Press and rub all areas that feel uncomfortable.

Don't overdo it with massage therapy

For massage to relieve tension headaches, Yu Heng, an attending physician at the Tui-Na Department of the Woosung East Clinic, warned of some precautions.

He said, if it is difficult to remember the location of the muscles of the head and neck, you can use the human muscle system chart to help locate.

Even if you feel relaxed through massage therapy, don't overdo it, and only perform self-treatment once a day. If you feel comfortable, you can increase it to twice a day.

When pressing the pain point, press for at least 8 seconds but not more than 1 minute, if you do not feel any sensation, it means that the pressure is not strong enough. If you feel severe pain, you need to reduce the pressure, or stop. Also, do not hold your breath while massaging.

Author: Bai Li

Source: Xiamen Evening News