Home Remedies To Ease Your Headache Problems

One of the most common medical conditions that a woman or a man or even children face from time to time is headaches. Headache is nothing but pain in various parts of the head and the pain in the head is not confined to one area of the head. You might have pain either on your forehead or even on the sides of your head. One of the main reasons why people suffer from headache is due to the amount of tension that they take to heir heads. People who also suffer from work pressure, overload of work, fear of work or even fear of their employees can easily catch a headache. Migraine and the cluster are other common forms of headaches.

What Is A Headache?

A headache is mild or moderate or severe pain that you experience in the head or the neck regions of your body. The upper neck or the head area is where the headache is prevalent and it originates from the tissues and structures that surround the brain. There is no nerve in the brain that gives indication of the sensation of pain. The inflammation or the irritation that is seen on the muscles that covers the sinuses, eyes, ears and skull and the meninges that surround the spinal cord, arteries, veins and nerves as well as the peristoeum that covers the bones. You may suffer from various kinds of head pains like a throbbing pain or a mild ache, or a sharp pain or an intense headache.

Common Types Of Headaches

There are various types of headaches. But, the most common type of headaches that are released in the latest classification system depending on the amount and concentration of the pain are: primary headaches, secondary headaches and facial pains or other headaches.

Primary Headaches

A primary headache can cause certain disturbances in your everyday life. A few people suffer from primary headaches that go away in a matter of two days. There are also a few people who suffer from persistent headaches that haunt them every now and then and this is known as the migraine. Some of the most common types of primary headaches are:

• Tension Headaches: The most common type of primary headache is the tension headache and is seen to occur more in women than in men. The daily tension is one of the main reasons for this headache and it is seen that one out of every 20 Americans suffers from tension headaches daily.
• Migraine Headaches: The second most common type of primary headache is migraine and it affects adults as well as children. It is also a very common type of headache seen in most people especially women. But before puberty, it is seen that boys and girls are equally affected by this headache. In fact about 16 percent of the women experience migraine problems in their full lifetime.
• Cluster Headaches: This is a rare type of primary headache that mostly affects men in their late 20’s and there have been reports of women as well as children suffering from cluster headaches. But, only just one in a thousand people suffer from this headache.

 

Secondary Headaches

• The structural problem or defect in the head or the neck causes a secondary headache in men and women.
• It can be developed from a variety of health conditions ranging from dental pain to pain from a decayed tooth to pain from sinus problems to even life threatening medical conditions like brain infections and meningitis.
• Then excessive sue of certain medications and headaches due to substance abuse are also part of the secondary headaches.
• Post concussion headaches also fall into the secondary headache category.

Cranial Neuralgias And Other Headaches

Cranial neuralgia which is an inflammation or a pain in any of the 12 nerves that supply the sensation and the motor function to the neck and the head is also one type of headache that occurs in few men or women. You might also suffer from intense to moderate facial pain due to this medical condition.

Causes And Symptoms For Tension Headaches

Some of the most important factors that cause tension headaches in many people are:

• Stress and anxiety
• Sitting and working in awkward positions for a long time
• Clamping one’s jaw together
• Depression and sadness
• Allergies due to  food

The following are the symptoms that could indicate that you are suffering from tension headaches, the most common type of headache in human beings.

• Feeling intense pressure on the temples or the area just above your eyebrows
• Pain that commences at the back of the head and forms a band like tightness around your head.
• Pain might vary from mild to moderate or severe but does not hinder your normal activities.
• Pain in the head that is not accompanied by vomiting or nausea or troubles from excess light and sound.
• Pain that occurs all of a sudden and without a set pattern

Causes And Symptoms Of Cluster Headaches

Causes

• Genetics may have a role to play
• Changes in the sleep patterns
• Could be due to overuse of certain medications like medicines used for heart ailments or nitroglycerine.
• Over consumption of smoked meat and chocolates
• Excessive smoking of cigarettes

Symptoms

• Pain occurs once or twice a day or even two times in a day
• The headache lasts for just about 30  to 90 minutes
• Nose on the painful side of the head starts to congest and becomes runny
• Excruciating pain ins experienced around the eye area
• Pain occurs roughly around the same time every day

When You Need To Visit Doctor For Headaches?

If you are experiencing a headache like the worst one you ever had in your life so far, then it is important for you to immediately seek medical help to diagnose why you experienced this severe headache. It is also better to meet a physician if you experience some of the following symptoms:

• Sudden pain in the head that is enhanced when you cough, sneeze or increase during sexual activity
• Different type of headache than what you had experienced before
• Headache that is associated with vomiting, fever, stiff neck, muscle spasm or nausea
• Headache associated with body weakness and pain on one side of the entire body

There are a lot of home remedies that you can try out if you experience any of the mild or moderate headache symptoms.

Simple Home Remedies For Headache

Lying Down

This is one of the easiest ways to get rid of your headache. Lie down and close your eyes for at least half an hour to get relief from pain. If the headache is due to migraine, then only sleep can disrupt the pain cycle. Lying down when the early signs of headaches appear will provide faster relief and keep the pain under control.

Use Tinted Glasses While Using The Computer

Harsh or bright lights can cause headaches in some people wearing tinted glasses while using a computer will prevent the headache. If your headache symptoms resemble that of migraine, restrict yourself to a darkened room to alleviate the pain. Wear sunglasses when you go out in the sun.

Cold Compress

Dip a towel or washcloth in ice cold water and place it over the eyes and forehead. This will relieve the headache.  Using the ice pack as soon as the pain starts will help to alleviate the pain in 20 minutes. Cold compress reduces the feeling of pain

Hot Compress

If you think that cold compress are not working for you go for hot compress. Place the towel dipped in warm water over the eyes, neck or on the site of pain. Do hot compress for 15-30 minutes. Re-warm the towel whenever necessary. Hot compress expands the blood vessels and improves the blood circulation.

Avoid Stress And Tension

Stress and tension can trigger or increase headaches.

• Arguments with co –workers or family members can trigger tension.
• Avoid unpleasant thoughts and think about the things which make you happy.
• Learning relaxation is another way to avoid stress and tension.

Count from 1 to 100 or take one or two deep breaths when the body is moving to the crisis mode. This will help to prevent the onset of headache.

Avoid Smoking

In many people smoking causes the headache or aggravates the headache. The poisonous chemicals in the cigarettes can trigger headaches. Avoid even passive smoking.

Avoid Alcohol

In many people hangover of alcohol is a cause for headaches in the morning. The tyramine present in dark alcoholic beverages like red wine, scotch, sherry, brandy sparks headaches in some people. Some people are sensitive to the histamine content in wine and beer. Abstaining from alcohol will be a wise decision, if you want to avoid headaches.

Reduce Caffeine

Caffeine in small amounts can actually reduce headache.

• Drinking more than three cups of coffee or any other caffeinated drinks can trigger headache as they increase the anxiety level.
• Consumption of too much caffeine can also cause insomnia in people which will cause headaches.

So, if you feel that your headache is related to your caffeine intake avoid or reduce the caffeine intake.

Press The Base Of Your Thumb And Forefinger

Massage the skin between the thumb and forefinger for several times resolves the pain. Massage both hands to get easy relaxation from pain. These are the acupressure points for headaches.

Soak Your Feet In Hot Water

This is one of the effective home remedies for headache. Keep your feet in hot water for 20 minutes and you will feel better.  The heat increases the blood flow to the feet and this will ease the pressure on the blood vessels of the head and will relieve the pain.

Soothing Oils

Massaging some soothing oils like lavender oil, peppermint oil or eucalyptus oil on to the forehead and temples and lying down for some time in a dark cool room will help to get rid of the pain.

Ginger Tea

Having ginger tea helps to reduce the headache. The anti- inflammatory property of ginger removes the pain.

Keep Yourself Hydrated

When you feel headache drink a large glass of water and see whether it helps. In some people dehydration causes headache.  If you were in outdoors for a long time and if you feel that the headache is starting, try this.

Eat Food At Regular Intervals

Eating food at regular intervals is necessary to keep the blood sugar at the optimum level. A decrease in the blood sugar level may lead to a bout of headache.

Exercises

Do 30 minutes of exercises like walking, swimming or cycling for at least three days in a week. This will help in good blood circulation and in relieving stress.  You will be able to keep the headaches away by this remedy.

Maintain The Body Rhythm

Go to bed and rise at the same time every day. Oversleeping on the weekends can cause changes in the body chemistry that will trigger headaches and migraines.

Get A Head Massage

Get a perfect head and back massage which will help you to get relief from stress and tension and which improves the blood circulation to the head.

Increase Magnesium Intake

• Studies have shown that people suffering from migraines tend to lack magnesium in their body.
• Including food items rich in magnesium like beans, broccoli, spinach, nuts, and soy milk reduces the chances of developing a headache.
• You also take multivitamin tablets containing magnesium. Magnesium has the capacity to calm the nerves.

Get Your Eyes Tested

Sometimes headaches result as a result of problems of eye such as dryness of the eye. Ensure that you are not getting headaches because of that.

Lemon

Lemon can be used in the form of lemon tea or you can make a paste of the peel of lemon and apply it on the forehead. This is one of the most soothing home remedies for headache.

Avoid Trigger Foods

By keeping a record of your headache and the food you eat, you will be able to identify the food items which trigger headache in you.  Food with high sodium, cholesterol, added flavors and sugars, caffeine, chocolates etc can trigger headache in some. Avoid food with a compound like nitrites and sulfites which dilates the capillaries causing increased blood flow to the brain and causes pain.

Do you suffer from regular headaches? Do you want to prevent or get rid of the headaches with easy methods? Try these home remedies and find out whichever is suitable for you.

 

Source: GoHealthTips