"Somewhat misleading"

I've never had much information about my headache from medical professionals. A diagnosis of "chronic daily tension headache of muscular contraction type" with a side note of "you need to relax more".

I was absentmindedly Googling this week and I discovered this description:

"The term tension headache is somewhat misleading, as it may suggest that the headache is caused by psychological tension or stress. In the past, this was indeed thought to be the cause, but we now know that this is not always so. Tension headache is actually a kind of general name for various types of headache that do not fit into any other category. Tension headache is generally divided into a type that occurs on less than 15 days a month and a chronic type that occurs on more than 15 days a month.

Cause
In many cases, the cause is unknown. Hereditary factors appear to be involved. The disorder is often associated with poor posture, the use of painkillers and fatigue, but psychological stress can also play a role."

So.

Chronic, because I have it everyday.And tension because it's not a migraine or a cluster headache, and it's not caused by a brain tumour or a bad jaw or eyesight or any hormone imbalance.

And have I always had poor posture? Or is it possible that I developed poor posture because I had a really aching head that feels heavy so much of the time and I just want to chop it off and lie it down for a break.
Use of painkillers: possibly. But I've come off them. Twice. I now keep my painkiller days to less than the vital 15 days a month. So...why is it persisting?Oh all that psychological stress...

Sigh. 

Sour Patch

I have a spot on my neck, at the base of my skull, that gives me a lot of grief. 

From now on I'm going to call it my sour patch.

It hurts. It aches. It burns. It stings. It weighs me down. It feels like a pool of poison that spreads through the veins into my head. 

I woke up with a strong pain in this sour patch yesterday morning, and I knew it would be a bad day.

And it was. It was unpleasant, but anything that isn't a migraine I'm getting better disposed to cope with.

But I find my commitment to my treatment suffers when my head is worse. I stretch less. I'm more inclined to try and crack out the pain. And cracking my neck (and back and knuckles) is something I've been banned from doing. 
But still do. And I do it especially when I have a bad head because I feel like surely cracking that horrible area will release the tension and therefore the pain.

It doesn't work like that. I know it doesn't work like that.

I really wish it did.

But instead, I carry on. I try to remember to do my stretches and my breathing. 

And I'll try to remember not to crack.

And the most important thing, and the hardest thing to remember when you have a bad headache, like yesterday or like Friday's migraine, is that not every day is like this. Not everyday is this bad. Yes I still have a headache today, but it's a different headache. It's like tomorrow won't be as bad. 

Unless of course I'm brewing a menstrual migraine. Then it'll be 3 days til tomorrow won't be as bad.