Tension-Muscle Contraction Headaches. A Review

Abstract

There has been, for many years, controversy as to appropriate diagnostic nomenclature in the area of headache. For migraine, over the years, many constellations of variables have been used including the unilateral nature of the headache, occurrence of vomiting, aura preceding the headache, family history, response to medication, and response to sleep, among others. Muscle-contraction headache was defined slightly over 20 years ago by a United States Ad Hoc Committee on Classification as “Ache or sensation of thightness, pressure or constriction widely varied in intensity, frequency, and duration, sometimes long lasting and commonly suboccipital. It is associated with sustained contraction of the skeletal muscles in the absence of permanent structural change, usually as part of the individual’s reaction during life’s stress” [1].