Analgesics are a broad group of drugs used to reduce pain, and include NSAIDs like aspirin and ibuprofen, and acetaminophen. They are a common over-the-counter medication for episodic tension-type headaches.

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* Therapy
* Analgesics
* Muscle relaxants
* Antidepressants

Treatments for tension-type headache

Freitag F. (2013). Managing and treating tension-type headache. The Medical clinics of North America, 97(2), 281–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcna.2012.12.003

 Managing and treating tension-type headache 

Analgesics as tension-type headache treatment

Antidepressants are often used as a preventative treatment for tension-type headaches. A well-studied antidepressant in chronic TTH is amitriptyline, which reduces pain signals primarily by increasing levels of serotonin (serotonin reuptake inhibition). There is little evidence that other antidepressants like SSRIs are useful in treating TTH.

Antidepressants as tension-type headache treatment

There is not strong evidence in support of muscle relaxants to treat tension-type headache, and further research needs to be done.

Muscle relaxants as tension-type headache treatment

* Lifestyle changes: avoiding known triggers can help avoid tension-type headaches. For example, missing a meal is a common trigger for headaches like TTH and migraine.
* Physical therapy: massage and physical therapy can benefit patients who have TTH due to poor posture, but generally is not a very effective treatment.
* Psychological therapy: relaxation training, where patients consciously reduce muscle tension, and cognitive-behavioral therapy, where patients identify stress-causing thoughts, have shown some promise as a treatment for TTH.

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