Q I'm 38 and work an office job in Dong-gu, Incheon. Every afternoon the back of my neck gets stiff and both sides of my head ache as if a band is squeezing them. Could this be a tension headache?
A Yes, a squeezing pressure on both sides is a classic tension-type headache. It develops as the scalp, neck, and shoulder muscles contract continuously, with stress, fatigue, and poor posture being the main causes.
Detailed Answer
Tension-type headache occurs when the scalp and neck muscles stay tense for a long time. The pain is usually bilateral, feeling like "a band tightening around the head," and unlike migraine, it rarely comes with nausea or light sensitivity. Under the ICHD-3 criteria, fewer than 15 days per month is classified as episodic, and more than that as chronic tension-type headache.
Korean Medicine Clinic Perspective
The Dongjedang Head & Face Clinic takes an internal-medicine approach that addresses circulation and underlying tension together, rather than merely suppressing the pain with painkillers. Many people whose heads tighten every afternoon are in a state of "heat rising above with cold below, and neck-and-nape stiffness" (sangyeol-haohan, dual-stiff neck pain), in which stress-generated heat rises upward and the stiffened neck and shoulders block blood flow to the brain. We use acupuncture and Chuna therapy to release the stiff back of the neck and open up blood flow to the brain, treating the root of the pain.
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