Tightness in head

Tightness in the Head: What Are the Characteristics?

Many people occasionally experience a strange feeling of tightness in their head, and it's not unusual if it happens only from time to time. However, if this phenomenon becomes too frequent, you should not wait before getting a proper diagnosis and, thereby, opening the door to a suitable treatment. This tightness in the head area can be caused by many different factors, some of which can be more serious than a mere case of head muscle spasms. Thus, timely action may prevent many grim scenarios. You may immediately worry about the possibility that you have developed a terminal disease of some kind, but even medical conditions that will not be fatal can chronically impact your life. Therefore, you need to know how to recognize the right symptoms of head tightness and how to do something about it. Here, we will take a quick look to help you decide what action to take next if you or someone you care about is suffering from tightness in the head.

Reasons behind Tightness in the Head

The first suspect is a pinched nerve in the neck. Once you start experiencing tightness in head, you should pay attention to where the discomfort is stemming from. If you find out that the source is the neck, and you feel pain in the left side of your neck, a pinched nerve can be the cause of your problems. Namely, sometimes, due to maintaining an irregular posture for a longer period of time or some other physical difficulties, our nerves may get trapped between our body tissues. This may result in pain and discomfort, possibly leading to a feeling of tightness in the head. In this case, your neck will hurt, and your head mobility will decrease significantly, resulting in the tightness mentioned above.

The second possible scenario involves tension headaches being behind the tightness you feel in your head area. These headaches are caused by stress — due to work and deadlines, arguments, financial problems, and other serious sources of discomfort. Besides experiencing headaches in these situations, you may feel as if something was applying pressure to your head. People who have anxiety disorders and tend to suffer from panic attacks are all possible victims for this condition, since some of the symptoms of a panic attack may be this strange sensation in the head.

Finally, the last of the most likely reasons for feeling tightness in the head is fibromyalgia. This central pain condition may result in muscle spasms due to nervous function anomalies. Tightness in certain areas of the skin and the body may be felt, or so-called tender points. If this condition is the cause of unwanted reactions from the nerves in the neck, it might result in feeling tightness in the head.

What Can Be Done about Tightness in Your Head?

First of all, a full medical examination is necessary as soon as possible because without it, it would be impossible to start the right treatment. Upon being examined and potentially after having further diagnostic tests, your doctor will establish a proper diagnosis, suggesting the best treatment afterwards. Then, if stress is causing the problem, you will need to look into some stress removal techniques or change your lifestyle to remove the stressors. Similarly, you might need to change your diet, way of life, and some of your habits, in order for the tightness in your head to disappear.