2.2 Frequent episodic tension-type headache

A 45-year-old chartered accountant has a history of long-running attacks affecting both temples equally, present for well over a year now. The character is a dull, squeezing tightness rather than a pounding sensation, and each episode can run for anywhere from around an hour up to several days at a stretch before it fully lifts. There has never been nausea, and vomiting has never featured. She describes borderline sensitivity to screen glare during attacks but no accompanying irritation from background noise. By her count there have been at least 14 such episodes altogether, with 175 headache days recorded over the past year and roughly nine headache days a month through the present four-month spell.