Dealing with constant headaches? Blame it on excessive tension

Headache induced by tension is one of the most common problems faced by people. Medicines often fail to help with the constant pain. However, neurologists at AIIMS say stimulating the nerve cells in the brain using a magnetic field can help in managing tension headaches in select cases. The technique is already being used to treat conditions such as fibromyalgia, neuropathic pain and depression among others.

The doctors at the premier medical institute recently conducted a study in which a group of patients suffering from constant headache due to tension underwent Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) while the other group received placebo or dummy treatment.

TMS involves placing a magnetic coil against the head of a patient. Short electromagnetic pulses are administered through the coil, causing small electrical currents that stimulate nerve cells and, thus, help in relieving the pain, say doctors.


The first group at AIIMS received 20 sessions of TMS over four weeks — five sessions each week from Monday to Friday that lasted 26 minutes and 52 seconds each — while the second group got the dummy treatment.



It was found that low frequency repetitive TMS had an analgesic effect in patients with chronic tension-type headache. “There was a reduction in the impact of headache on their daily lives, which was reflected by reduction in anxiety and psychological pain beliefs,” the researchers noted in the results published in the latest issue of the Indian Journal of Medical Research. It calls for larger trials using repetitive TMS as an adjuvant or independent therapy in tension headache patients.

Dr Manjari Tripathi, professor of neurology at AIIMS, said nearly 60% of patients coming in with complaints of headache suffer from tension-type headache disorder. “At least 10% to 15% of the patients who don’t respond well to standard therapies can benefit from the magnetic stimulation technology,” she said. Dr Tripathi, however, stressed on the need to select the suitable candidates wisely given that many such patients get relief from simpler interventions such as exercise, stress reduction, yoga and medicines to reduce pain.

Dr J D Mukherji, senior director and head of neurology at Max Saket said tension headache is different from migraine. “In migraine, the headache is mostly one-sided and episodic. But headache caused due to tension is whole-sided and constant. Patients often self-medicate, which causes side-effects. If non-invasive treatment is standardised, it will be of significant help to patients whose symptoms don’t improve with standard therapies,” he said.

TMS involves placing a magnetic coil against the head of a patient. Short electromagnetic pulses are administered through the coil, causing small electrical currents that stimulate nerve cells and, thus, help in relieving the pain