The Pain, It Blossoms Like A Nasty Bitch Of A Flower

I have a headache. This is nothing new. I've been prone to headaches for a while. The kind that start & grow & last all day & make my head throb, in the back mostly. The kind that are OTC medication-proof (so much so that I don't even bother trying to medicate the pain anymore). The kind that I imagine result from lots of alchohol, lots of caffeine, lots of crap food, lots of cigarettes, & very little sleep.

I must admit that I am puzzled as to why I'm still getting them, though. I've not had a drink for ages. I cut the coffee back to two cups a week (down from about 28 oz a day, mind), almost a month ago. My food consumption has been sickeningly healthy. I sleep, maybe not the recommended 8, but enough for my needs. Every day I walk between 1 to 6 miles, so while I'm not superactive, I'm not sedentary either. I'm still smoking, but christ, I gave up alchohol, caffeine, & "comfort" food. The cigarette-quitting is just gonna have to wait a while. Besides, I've been a smoker off & on for 10 lung-blackening years now. The skull pain is a much more recent occurrence.

So, then, why the continual headaches? They don't fit the migraine profile - not debilitating enough, plus I've none of the attendant symptoms. Definitely not cluster headaches. Not rebound headaches from overmedicating, either. I guess they're just normal ol' tension headaches. Not even special enough to qualify as chronic tension-type headaches, really, since I only get them every few weeks, not 15 days a month.

Wait...could this be...the answer? At least for the special pain club megamix of yesterday & today? According to Wikipedia, "One of the theories says that the main cause for tension type headaches and migraine is teeth clenching which causes a chronic contraction of the temporalis muscle". I've always had a bit of TMJ disc displacement, enough so that both sides of my jaw pop rather disgustingly, but not painful enough to make me do anything about it. However, in the past few days I've definitely noticed that my jaw has been really, really tense & tight. There has indeed been some teeth clenching in the hizzy. Also, I have been known to grind them in my sleep. Perhaps if I consciously try to relax my lower mouth area, this will abate.

Um, also, if you have a headache & are feeling badly you should check this out. It will probably make you realize that, actually, your headache ain't all that bad. Although the picture I've chosen is a pretty accurate representation of how I feel.

EDIT: Ended up having to leave work early. Went home, laid down & feltthepain all night. Read a bit of The Man Who Ate Everything (I WILL finish it someday, dammit), but mostly just slept. The headache is gone but for some dull residual pain. Relaxing my jaw, however, has turned out to be well nigh impossible, unless two conditions are met: (1) I'm actively thinking about it & (2) I'm actively relaxing (there's a tad of oxymoron in there, no?).

Also, I've been thinking about it, & have concluded that given that the enormously strong constitution & overall level of health I enjoy (which I've done precious little to deserve) I ought to just stop whining about the searing headpain I get every once in awhile. I mean, bad health things don't happen to me. I hardly ever even get the sniffles. Most of the time I wish I could share my health insurance with other people. I feel guilty for not using it. Ooh, but I've decided I'm gonna go to a doctor in the next month or so, to make sure I don't need to worry about these headaches. Also because I sneeze a lot at work, which I attribute to an allergic reaction to office drone work in general, but would like to confirm. Mostly, though, because I have some money in an FSA & I'm worried I'm not gonna use it otherwise.