Tension Headaches: Myths That Stand in the Way of Recovery

Real relief becomes impossible as long as stubborn myths go unchallenged. They send people looking in the wrong direction and treating the wrong thing.

Myth 1: "The brain itself is hurting"

This is one of the most widespread misconceptions. The grey and white matter of the brain have no pain receptors — the brain is physically incapable of signalling pain on its own. What actually hurts are the meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain: it is the pressure they exert against the inner walls of the skull that produces the agonising sensation. Overlooking this fact means losing sight of the actual mechanism at work.

Myth 2: "It's purely a physical problem — one pill and it's gone"

A very common mistake is treating a headache as an isolated bodily symptom. In Dr. Saulitis's observation, the pain is closely tied to fluid retention in the body, which is itself triggered by anxiety, chronic stress, sleep deprivation, childhood trauma, and a state of constant internal readiness for threat. The limbic system — the reactive, "ancient" part of the brain — switches into fight mode, and the body literally holds onto water as part of that mobilisation. Taking a pill to dull the pain once, without addressing this deeper layer, means returning to the same cycle again and again.

Myth 3: "Weather has nothing to do with it"

Many people dismiss the connection between headaches and atmospheric pressure as superstition. The logic, however, is straightforward: when external pressure changes, the pressure within the meninges changes too. This is not mysticism — it is physics. Dismissing this trigger means missing an important warning signal the body is sending.

Common mistakes during an attack

During an attack the body itself points toward the right response: sensitivity to light and sound, nausea — these are not random symptoms but signals to withdraw from stimulation. The mistake is to push through, keep working, stay in bright, noisy environments. The body is calling for a cool, dark, quiet place and the chance to fall asleep as quickly as possible. After the attack subsides, a noticeable release of fluid often follows — and with it, emotional tension eases as well. This observation in itself speaks volumes: the connection between the physical and the psychological is real and runs in both directions.