clinical features

Last reviewed 01/2018

The general clinical features of tension-type headaches include:

  • bilaterality in 90% of cases
  • feels like a pressure or constriction and usually mild to moderate in severity
  • pain may be diffuse, felt as a band or concentrated, for example, in the frontal or occipital areas
  • there is no aura
  • headache is not aggravated by physical activity
  • significant systemic upset or neurological deficits are absent
  • symptoms typically get worse during the day
  • pericranial tenderness, photophobia, phonophobia and nausea may occur (1)

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