Verdict: TRUE.
The feeling of tightness or pressure around the head is very often what doctors call a tension headache.
Unlike migraine, this pain is generally bilateral. It does not beat with the pulse and is rarely accompanied by nausea or vomiting. Patients readily describe a feeling of a vice or helmet that is too tight.
Stress and anxiety are among the main factors contributing to this type of headache. When a person is under significant emotional tension, the muscles of the neck, shoulders, and scalp tend to contract more.
This excessive muscular tension can then contribute to the appearance of pain.
But stress is not the only cause.
Bad posture, particularly in front of a computer, visual fatigue and sleep disorders also play a major role. These different factors often tend to combine.
A prolonged working day in front of a screen, combined with a lack of sleep and a period of professional pressure, thus constitutes a particularly favorable environment.
The frequency of the phenomenon is considerable. Tension headaches are among the most common forms of headache in the population.
Fortunately, they are most often benign.
Rest, reducing sources of tension, regular visual breaks and improving ergonomics at work often lead to significant improvement.
However, when the pain becomes more frequent, resists usual treatments or occurs as soon as you wake up, a medical consultation is recommended.
If having your head in a vice is not always linked to stress, it remains one of the main triggers identified.
Advice from Dr Gérald Kierzek
Tension headaches are common and give rise to bilateral, diffuse, non-pulsatile headaches of mild to moderate intensity, which give a feeling of tightness or vice-like pressure without being aggravated by physical exertion, not to be confused with the unilateral shooting pains of Arnold’s neuralgia.