Is It Okay To Have A Headache After Crying?
At some point in time, we often face those terrible days or times when we can’t stop our tears and cry our hearts out.
However, there are still many who restraint from crying and shedding tears. And that is not because they are ashamed to display their emotions or egoistically, but because they are terrified of the awful headache that follows.
When you’re already feeling low, all the negative thoughts may flock to your mind. Therefore, when struck with a terrible headache post a crying- episode, you might start wondering if it is okay to have a headache after crying.
This article will help you understand the mechanisms and relationships between tear ducts, crying, and headaches and help you release all your worries and take care of your precious health.
Why Do You Get A Headache After Crying?
Tears are produced when the limbic system, which controls emotional arousal, communicates with the lacrimal glands.
When tears roll down your cheeks, chemicals, including hormones, neurotransmitters, and proteins, are released into your body.
Numerous physical benefits, including improved mood, less stress, and improved cardiovascular health, have been associated with the production of these chemicals.
But what about the headache after crying?
When you cry, you generally put your body and muscles under a lot of stress. This creates tension in your facial muscles and the neck and head regions.
This is widely responsible for the headache you face post crying.
Given below are the three major reasons for facing a headache post crying, explained in further detail—
Headache From Muscular Tensions
Several muscles in the face stiffen up while someone is crying, and you can feel the tension in the jaw, neck, and back of the head.
The constant contractions of these muscles that occur while someone is sobbing can cause a tension headache. The most frequent type of primary headache is the tension headache.
Headache Due To Sinus
When someone cries, tears gather in the puncta or small holes in the corners of the eyelids. A person’s tear drainage system becomes overworked from regular crying, which results in tears running down their cheeks.
A tiny percentage of these tears could also go into their nasal cavity and coagulate there with mucus to make them runny.
A sinus headache sufferer could feel pressure and discomfort on their forehead, on their cheekbones, or around their eyes.
These areas may also be unpleasant and sensitive to touch. It is important to remember that sinus headaches are rare and typically caused by sinusitis. The symptoms of a sinus headache and migraine are comparable.
Migraine Headache After Crying
A migraine attack might begin if someone is crying out of stress and worry. 80% of migraineurs blame stress as one of the main causes of their condition.
Studies have shown that crying can activate the autonomic nervous system. Due to the dysregulation of the sympathetic nervous system in migraines, there is a significant connection between the two.
The primary migraine symptom is a throbbing or pounding headache over the face and skull. This soreness, from mild to severe, often worsens as you move about.
The average headache, the migraine, affects 15% of Americans. Some people confuse a migraine for a sinus headache because it can also hurt behind the eyes and across the bridge of the nose.
What Can Make You Feel Better?
If you’ve cried your heart out, you know you feel emotionally lighter and gained the confidence to face your problems better.
However, a terrible headache after crying can make it worse for you. Now you must lie down and bury your face in the pillow of the physical discomfort.
So what can you do to deal with this?
Using Ice Pack Or Hot Pack
To begin with, experts advise either an ice pack or a hot pack, depending on your preference.
Applying an ice pack or a heat pack can help with pain management, reducing inflammation, and stimulating circulation. It can be placed directly on the forehead, on the neck, or towards the rear of the head.
According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, a hot or cold shower should also ease your anxiety or tension.
This is due to the fact that the steam can aid in reducing tension in your neck and head muscles and that the feeling of heat or cold on your skin can be comforting.
Get A Self-Elating Massage
The web-like region between your thumb and index finger, which acts as a trigger point, is there. This can lessen anxiety and stress, improve sleep, and help release headaches after crying.
A massage might also be beneficial if you truly want to pamper yourself; just ask the therapist to concentrate on your head and neck.
The most sensitive section of the body is allegedly the region between the shoulders and the temples. Since it relaxes any knots in the muscles around these locations, stimulating this area with a little pressure can help with tension headaches.
When you massage this area, it helps relieve stress in your hands and pain in your shoulders and upper back.
Take Meds
While taking acetaminophen or aspirin might temporarily ease mild aches and pains, they shouldn’t be used as a long-term remedy. If nothing else relieves the pain, acetaminophen or ibuprofen can help deal with the headache after crying.
Patients with migraines might wish to learn stress-management skills or discuss with their doctor certain drugs that could be more effective for their condition.
Ibuprofen and naproxen, two over-the-counter drugs, can also help relieve pain, but your doctor advises consulting with them if you use them more frequently than a few times each week.
Heal Your Emotional And Physical Discomforts
No matter how terrible your headaches get, remember, crying is one of the healthiest ways of letting out your emotional tensions. It can make your heart feel lighter and help you heal the emotional turbulences.
We have given you several reasons and treatments to get over a headache after crying. Try the methods mentioned above and help yourself get over the physical discomforts.
Let us know if this article helped you, and if you have any further suggestions, do mention them in the comment section below.
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