dimanche 8 mai 2016

Headache Cures: Hacks And Tips For Beating This Common Foe

Headache relief

Do you have headaches? You’re not alone. People search the phrase ‘headache cure’ more than 130,000 times every single month. As a headache sufferer myself, or at least a used-to-be headache sufferer who has the occasional relapse, I am always on the prowl for the best ways to ensure I can live my life as headache free as possible. I’ve been living without chronic headaches for a while now, but I’m not completely immune. Since I’ve fallen victim to a series of tension-type headaches over the last week (maybe three days in the last five), I am once again on the search for both causes and treatments for this common, yet life-sucking ailment. It just so happens that I’m not the only searcher, a recent report from News Channel 8 highlights potential, albeit unconventional, help for headache sufferers.

One suggestion states that making a paste from the peel of a lemon has powerful anti-inflammatory properties, and when the paste is applied to a sufferers forehead during a headache, it can be a headache cure. Another tip suggests that eating, or even simply smelling, an apple can help take the edge off a migraine headache. Additional suggestions include lavender and peppermint essential oils rubbed onto the temples, and to supplement with Ginko Biloba, which is said to increase oxygen levels in the blood.

I have personally tried the essential oils method, and it seems to help. But, I am highly skeptical of the idea that eating an apple or rubbing a lemon-peel paste on my head would pack a punch powerful enough to knock out one of my headaches. As headache cures go, I don’t have a much confidence in these remedies as I do others.

So far, the best treatment I’ve found for my headaches is prevention. When I fail to use my go-to prevention methods, it seems inevitable that I’ll have a headache. Once I have one, there’s no magic headache cure. In the throes of a headache, I take an OTC medication and shut myself up in a dark, quiet room to sleep through the pain. If a headache is too severe for sleep, I will take a sleep aid. The good news is, I haven’t had a ‘can’t sleep’ headache in a long while, and I haven’t had a full-on migraine since I began some specific preventative treatments about two years ago. Instead, the headaches I get now are of the tension variety — and they only show up when I’ve failed to do my due diligence in the form of prevention (hence my current state of affairs).

Mind you, I’m sharing this because I hope it will help someone else. I am NOT a doctor and nothing I say should be taken as medical expertise. Yes, I’ve done lots of research, so I’m not just some ninny spouting off at the mouth, but I’m not an expert in the medical field. Anything thing you try from my regime is your decisions, and as I always say in reference to medical questions, ‘when in doubt, call the doctor.’

My regime:

  1. Diet watch: I tend to be sensitive to gluten intake, which can trigger a headache if I over do it on the breads, pastas, cookies and all the other delightful foods that contain gluten. I don’t have celiac, so I do consume gluten — albeit more often than I should. However, as long as I keep it to a minimum, and consume gluteny foods sparingly, I can avoid a headache.
    • It’s also critical that I keep my blood sugar levels fairly stable. I eat something every couple hours or so. If I go too long between meals and my blood sugar falls too far, I will, without question, get a headache. Oddly, it feels like a tension headache. I’ve read that the spikes and valleys in blood sugar levels are a headache trigger for lots of people. When I get a headache as a result of this issue, I always feel like an idiot because it’s pretty much 99 percent preventable.
  2. Supplements: Magnesium citrate to be exact. I take 1/2 tsp. of magnesium citrate powder in a shot of orange juice twice a day. For me, this has been a game changer. Seriously. No lie. It’s the best thing I’ve done for my headache situation to date. I’ve read lots of information on it; it’s a pretty common migraine treatment now. And at least for me, it’s working wonders for my tension-type headaches too.
  3. Massage: Who doesn’t like a good massage? I carry stress in my neck and shoulders and a good massage therapist can help cut headaches off at the pass during times of atypical stress. I am an advocate of the monthly massage, though I admit I’d have a therapist on call 24/7 if it were practical for me to do so. I also practice scalp massage in the morning, and facial massage, focusing on my temples and my jaw muscles, at night when I put on my night cream.
    • I’m currently exploring the idea of fascia release. I haven’t been researching long, but so far, my findings are fascinating and I will likely begin ‘human trials’ on myself fairly soon.
  4. Stretching: I exercise, and the typical stretching that most of us do with our workouts isn’t quite thorough enough for headache prevention in my world. Instead, I do 30 minutes of stretching, particularly focusing on my neck, back, shoulders and chest at least four days a week.
    • I have also found that really concentrating on my posture makes a huge difference for me. Proper sleep positions (i.e., pillows and mattress structure), as well as sitting and standing postures are known to be huge triggers for chronic headache sufferers.
  5. Stress relief: For me, stress relief involves exercise, hot baths, ‘down time,’ and of course, my faith.

So there you have it, my personal headache prevention routine. Again, I’m not an expert. If you have tips, tricks, thoughts or even criticisms of my routine, I’d love to hear from you. As I see it, we’re all in this thing together. If just one person can be helped, and his or her quality of life improved, by the information we exchange here, it will be well worth the effort.

[Photo by Dimitri Otis/Getty Images]

Headache Cures: Hacks And Tips For Beating This Common Foe is an article from: The Inquisitr News

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