Stress Headaches Can Be Bad Indeed. If They Aren’t From Stress, How Can You Get Better?

If you’ve been told your headaches are from stress, you need another opinion, soon. The reality is, any symptoms, seemingly related to stress need more investigation. Stress headaches usually result from chronic stress, but this diagnosis is not correct a good portion of the time. Dr. David Posen (The Little Book of Stress Relief, 2003), diagnoses chronic stress with a checklist. Items queried include clenching of the jaw, teeth grinding, sore, tight muscles, and dizziness and, of course, headaches. Long-term exposure to severe stress can really cause you problems.

When stress is acute and sudden, however, your body will manufacture many different hormones, in your Endocrine System, to help you deal with the problem. Symptoms may include irregularity in heartbeat and breathing patterns, muscle tightening, mouth dryness, the sweats and a knot in the stomach. Headaches, however, are rarely associated with acute stress. With acute stress, the body needs to be alert, and the stress hormones assure that you will be alert, not suffering from headaches. In fact, if you didn’t have this excited type of response to serious and sudden danger, you would probably need to be checked to see if you’ve lapsed into a coma.

However, when it seems reducing stress has no effect on the headaches, the reason is likely, that it’s not stress causing the trouble? Headaches, like many other symptoms, are often mislabeled as stress-related. Stress seems to be a good place to put a whole smorgasbord of symptoms that are difficult to figure out. For example, did you know that food allergies are a major cause of headaches. Lactose intolerance (problems digesting milk) and wheat gluten allergy (problems digesting wheat) are two examples of food allergies that may cause headaches? It is worth your while to have a check up with a Naturopathic Doctor (ND) because a large group of people in North America don't suffer from stress headaches at all. Everyone, of course, needs to effectively manage stress, but it’s not probable you will ever solve your headaches if they have nothing to do with stress.

I read a report, not too long ago, from an organic grain-growing cooperative (kootenaygraincsa.ca), which would make your skin crawl. The processes that manufacturers and growers do to the wheat we consume as bread and bagels and buns will shock you. No wonder, we all have headaches and other symptoms. It's amazing that’s all we have. I can’t imagine how many of us probably have Celiac Disease and if that doesn't worry you, I don't know what will. It's downright disturbing. So, go to a Naturopathic Doctor and find out if your headaches are caused by something other than stress.

Paul Zane Pilzer, economist and author of the Wellness Revolution, discovered an interesting statistic. It seems less than 6% of doctors take courses in nutritional medicine while in school and once they start their practices, almost all training is offered by drug companies. It is unlikely; you will be able to get a clear diagnosis about headaches from your medical doctor unless he or she is also knowledgeable about nutrition. It's time you got a break from stress headaches. The best stress management program in the world isn't going to help you if you're treating the wrong condition. So find out for sure and start feeling better soon because stress really isn’t as mysterious as you might think.