Headache for Days? Try this All-Natural 3-Day Fix

Stop headaches before they start

There are three things we know about headaches:

First, over half of adults have at least one headache per year, according to the World Health Organization.

Second, headaches are often under-diagnosed and under-treated.

And third, it’s pretty hard to find immediate, tried-and-true relief that takes long-term pain away.

If you’re looking for fast relief tips, we have 18 natural remedies. However, if the relief provided is only temporary, you might want to take a closer look at your lifestyle. Headaches can be caused by a whole host of things, including inflammation, sinus infections, or simply genetics.

The trick to holistically curing (almost all) your headaches is to prevent one from happening in the first place.

Recognize the difference between migraines and other headaches

Feeling sensations on one side of the head and experiencing other body symptoms? It could be a migraine. Generally, migraine tips can help headaches, but it might not work the other way around. If you’re experiencing severe migraines, it’s important to talk to your doctor about how to prevent and treat them.

So, if you’re ready to reclaim your day, look no further. Follow this three-day fix to holistically clear headaches from your schedule and stop your next one before it starts.

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Headaches happen when you least expect them. Common headache triggers include the obvious — like stress and too much alcohol — but they can also be caused by dehydration, bad posture, a lack of sleep, or even strong smells or odors.

What and what not to eat

Avoid any foods you suspect you’re allergic or intolerant to. Food intolerances, like gluten or histamine intolerances, can cause headaches.

Sip some herbal tea. Ginger and feverfew both have potential for treating or preventing headaches. Indulging in one of these warm herbal teas might be exactly what you need to find relief.

Stay hydrated. Advice on how much water you should drink per day varies, but aim for eight 8-ounce glasses per day.Dehydration is a common headache trigger, but it’s important not to over-hydrate as well. Carry a reusable water bottle with you to keep hydrated on the go, and make sure you’re staying hydrated during workouts as well.

Start taking vitamin B-2. Vitamin B-2 (riboflavin) might also help prevent headaches, specifically migraines. Research shows that people who took vitamin B-2 experienced fewer headaches per month.

What to do

Try a cold (or hot) compress. Cold therapy can be beneficial for treating migraines, while some — like tension headaches — might respond better to heat. If you don’t prefer one over the other, try alternating between the two.

Discover your triggers. Fixing your headache depends on your trigger, so it’s important to identify them and learn how to cope with them:

• Try taking a 30-minute nap to see if the headache is sleep or stress related.
• Close your eyes to test if the light or eye strain is causing you pain.
• Massage the back of your neck or the bridge of your nose to see if this relieves any headache tension.

Once you find what helps, take a note.

Focus on light exercise. Bad posture is a common headache trigger, so introducing light stretching into your day can help improve your posture, reduce stress, and hopefully lower your headache risk over the long term.

What are headache triggers?

According to the American Migraine Foundation, the most common triggers include changes in sleep patterns, everyday stresses, menstrual periods, and weather and travel changes. You might not be able to avoid weather-related headaches, but being proactive can help you reduce their impact on your daily life.

How to sleep

You’ve heard this before: adults (18–64) typically need seven to nine hours of sleep per night. While it might seem like you do that on average, having an off week can contribute to your headaches.

Practice good sleep hygiene. It’s not just about getting sleep — it’s about getting quality sleep. The National Sleep Foundation suggests cutting out stimulants before bed, establishing a regular bedtime routine, and creating a relaxing environment for sleep.

Support your neck. Early morning headaches may be caused by strained muscles from a poor sleep position. For headaches, sleeping on your back is best — as long as your head is supported properly — while sleeping on your stomach is, unfortunately, not great for neck pain.

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If you are dealing with chronic headaches, it’s time to take your response beyond the basics. First, focus on managing triggers to help eliminate potential headaches before they start. From there, it’s all about doing what helps you feel your best.

What and what not to eat

Don’t drink caffeine. Try to avoid drinking caffeine. Studies suggest that too much caffeine (or the aftermath of caffeine withdrawal) can be a recipe for a nasty headache.

Cut back on junk food, food additives (like MSG), and artificial sweeteners. Certain foods can trigger headaches and migraines, so it’s important limit your intake of these foods, especially if you’re more prone to headaches. A 2016 review concluded that MSG and caffeine withdrawal were the most common headache triggers, but aspartame, gluten, histamine, and alcohol were also potential triggers.

Take magnesium. Magnesium is an essential mineral for our bodies, and one study suggests that having magnesium deficiency can lead to headaches. But too much magnesium also has its side effects, so talk to a doctor before loading up.

Food elimination alternative

If you already eat a fairly healthy food plan and suspect that cutting out junk food won’t work, try the elimination diet. When you aren’t sure what foods might be contributing to your headaches, eliminate any foods you suspect and then slowly reintroduce them one at a time.

What to do

Avoid stressful activities. While light exercise can be beneficial for headaches, strenuous workouts like running or weightlifting can make them worse.

Try using essential oils. Diffusing essential oils can help treat headaches. While different oils have different benefits, both peppermint and lavender essential oil are known for helping reduce headaches. Avoid undiluted oils, as concentrated doses may cause side effects like skin irritation.

Reduce neck pain. Give your neck a little love by stretching out the tightness. Try incorporating these yoga poses for neck pain. You can also pinch the back of your neck and massage gently to ease tension.

How to sleep

Use a rolled-up towel. If you’re holding off on getting a custom pillow just yet, rolling up a towel into a tight cylinder and placing it under your neck can help your muscles relax and relieve tension.

Boost your sleep quality. If you’re struggling to fall asleep, try drinking one of these colorful milk recipes with dessert or before bed. Need more tips to beat insomnia? Try avoiding evening exercise, cut out caffeine earlier in the day, and minimize your screen time.

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If it’s been three days and the pain is still going, there’s more you can do to discover your triggers. There are also steps you can take to rebuild your body’s defense foundation to help prevent or mitigate the next headache.

What and what not to eat

Avoid ice cream. Brain freeze may be connected to chronic headaches, so if you’re treating yourself with frozen foods, try cutting back for a while to see if that makes a difference.

Add anti-inflammatory foods to your diet. When you’re stressed, chronic inflammation can happen — meaning headaches definitely aren’t helping the cycle. That why it’s important to avoid foods that can make inflammation worse. Eat foods like dark, leafy greens and berries. They are both on the “pain-safe” foods list, and they’re also anti-inflammatory foods that can help reduce stress.

Eat small, frequent meals. Skipping meals or eating irregularly can mess with your blood glucose levels. To maintain your glucose levels, eat regularly throughout the day.

What to do

Focus on self-care. Chronic tension headaches may come and go, and they’re often caused by stress.Try booking a massage, acupuncture session, or another relaxing activity.

Practice restful yoga. Research suggests that yoga may help increase the body’s production of melatonin, which regulates sleep. If you need help falling asleep, try incorporating some of these yoga poses for insomnia.

How to sleep

Try a neck support pillow. Third day and counting with head pain? It might be time to invest in a new pillow. A small study discovered that orthopedic pillows improved sleep slightly better than standard pillows, but the important thing is to find a pillow that keeps your neck elevated.

Don’t forget to practice good sleep habits. Take sleep hygiene a step further by removing electronics in the bedroom. The National Sleep Foundation recommends avoiding screen time an hour before bed as well as trying to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day (even on weekends).

For many of us, headaches may seem inevitable, but that doesn’t mean we should let them become debilitating.

Even small changes — like making sure to wake up at the same time every day — could potentially have a major impact on whether or not you continue to suffer from chronic headaches. And remember, migraines are not the same as headaches, if they are preventing you from

And, in the end, what’s important is that you find the perfect headache relief and prevention strategies that work for you.

Jandra Sutton is a novelist, writer, and social media enthusiast. She’s passionate about helping people live happy, healthy, and creative lives. In her spare time, she enjoys lifting weights, reading, and anything related to ice cream. Pluto will always be a planet in her heart. You can follow her on Twitterand Instagram.

Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Triggers, and More

Migraine is a neurological condition that typically causes painful headache attacks that occur with additional symptoms, such as sensitivity to light, sound, smell, or touch.

More than just the cause of “really bad headaches,” migraine is a neurological condition that can cause multiple symptoms. While intense, debilitating headaches frequently characterize it, additional symptoms may include:

• nausea
• vomiting
• difficulty speaking
• numbness or tingling
• sensitivity to light and sound

The condition often runs in families and can affect all ages. People assigned female at birth are more likely than people assigned male at birth to be diagnosed with migraine.

The diagnosis of migraine is determined based on clinical history, reported symptoms, and by ruling out other causes. The most common categories of migraine headaches (or attacks) are episodic versus chronic, and then those without aura and those with aura.

People describe migraine pain as:

• pulsating
• throbbing
• perforating
• pounding
• debilitating

It can also feel like a severe, dull, steady ache. The pain may start out as mild. But without treatment, it can become moderate to severe.

Migraine pain most commonly affects the forehead area. It’s usually on one side of the head, but it can occur on both sides or shift.

Most migraine attacks last about 4 hours. If they’re not treated or don’t respond to treatment, they can last for as long as 72 hours to a week. In migraine with aura, pain may overlap with an aura or may never occur at all.

Migraine symptoms may begin 1 to 2 days before the headache itself. This is known as the prodrome stage. Symptoms during this stage can include:

• food cravings
• depression
• fatigue or low energy
• frequent yawning
• hyperactivity
• irritability
• neck stiffness

In migraine with aura, the aura occurs after the prodrome stage. During an aura, you may have problems with your vision, sensation, movement, and speech. Examples of these problems include:

• difficulty speaking clearly
• feeling a prickling or tingling sensation in your face, arms, or legs
• seeing shapes, light flashes, or bright spots
• temporarily losing your vision

The next phase is known as the attack phase. This is the most acute or severe of the phases when the actual migraine pain occurs. In some people, this can overlap or occur during an aura. Attack phase symptoms can last anywhere from hours to days. Symptoms of migraine can vary from person to person.

Some symptoms may include:

• increased sensitivity to light and sound
• nausea
• dizziness or feeling faint
• pain on one side of your head, either on the left side, right side, front, or back, or in your temples
• pulsing and throbbing head pain
• vomiting

After the attack phase, a person will often experience the postdrome phase. During this phase, there are usually changes in mood and feelings. These can range from feeling euphoric and extremely happy to feeling very fatigued and apathetic. A mild, dull headache may persist.

The length and intensity of these phases can occur to different degrees in different people. Sometimes, a phase gets skipped, and a migraine attack may occur without causing a headache.

Researchers haven’t identified a definitive cause for migraine. But they still believe the condition is due to “abnormal” brain activity that affects nerve signaling, and chemicals and blood vessels in the brain.

There are also many migraine triggers that are continually reported, including:

• bright lights
• severe heat, or other extremes in weather
• dehydration
• changes in barometric pressure
• hormone changes in people assigned female at birth, like estrogen and progesterone fluctuations during menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause
• excess stress
• loud sounds
• intense physical activity
• skipping meals
• changes in sleep patterns
• use of certain medications, like oral contraceptives or nitroglycerin
• unusual smells
• certain foods
• smoking
• alcohol use
• traveling

If you experience a migraine attack, your doctor may ask you to keep a headache journal. Writing down what you were doing, what foods you ate, and what medications you took before your migraine attack began can help identify your triggers.

Migraine can’t be cured, but your doctor can help you manage migraine attacks by giving you the tools to treat symptoms when they occur, which may lead to fewer attacks in general. Treatment can also help make migraine less severe.

Your treatment plan depends on:

• your age
• how often you have migraines attacks
• the type of migraine you have
• how severe they are — based on how long they last, how much pain you have, and how often they keep you from going to school or work
• whether they include nausea or vomiting, as well as other symptoms
• other health conditions you may have and other medications you may take

Your treatment plan may include a combination of:

• lifestyle adjustments, including stress management and avoiding migraine triggers
• OTC pain or migraine medications, like Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or acetaminophen (Tylenol)
• prescription migraine medications that you take every day to help prevent migraine headaches and reduce how often you have headaches
• prescription migraine medications that you take as soon as an attack starts to keep it from becoming severe and to ease symptoms
• prescription medications to help with nausea or vomiting
• hormone therapy if migraines seem to occur in relation to your menstrual cycle
• counseling
• alternative care, which may include meditation, acupressure, or acupuncture

If you need help finding a primary care doctor, then check out our FindCare tool here.

Medication

Medications can be used to either prevent a migraine attack from happening or treat it once it occurs. You may be able to get relief with OTC medication. But if OTC medications aren’t effective, your doctor may decide to prescribe other medications.

The severity of your migraine and any other health conditions you have will determine which treatment is right for you.

Acute medications — taken as soon as you suspect a migraine attack is coming — include:

• NSAIDs: These medications, like ibuprofen or aspirin, are typically used in mild-to-moderate attacks that don’t include nausea or vomiting.
• Triptans: These medications, like sumatriptan, eletriptan, and rizatriptan, are typically the first line of defense for individuals who have nerve pain as a symptom of their migraine attacks.
• Antiemetics: These medications, like metoclopramide, chlorpromazine, and prochlorperazine, are typically used with NSAIDs to help decrease nausea.
• Ergot alkaloids: These medications, like Migranal and Ergomar, aren’t prescribed that often and are usually reserved for individuals who don’t respond to triptans or analgesics.

Preventative medications — prescribed to people whose migraine attacks can be debilitating or happen more than four times a month — are taken once a day, or every 3 months via injection. These medications include:

• Antihypertensives: These drugs are prescribed for high blood pressure and can also help with migraine attacks. Beta-blockers and angiotensin receptor blockers (candesartan) are some examples of antihypertensive drugs used for migraine prevention.
• Anticonvulsants: Certain anti-seizure medications may also be able to prevent migraine attacks.
• Antidepressants: Some antidepressants, like amitriptyline and venlafaxine, may also be able to prevent migraine attacks.
• Botox: Botox injections are administered to the head and neck muscles every 3 months.
• Calcitonin gene-related peptide treatments: These treatments are administered either via injection or through an IV and work to prevent a migraine attack from developing.

While migraine attack triggers can be very personal, certain foods or food ingredients may be more likely to trigger an attack than others. These may include:

• alcohol or caffeinated drinks
• food additives, like nitrates (a preservative in cured meats), aspartame (an artificial sugar), or monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• tyramine, which occurs naturally in some foods

Tyramine also increases when foods are fermented or aged. These include foods like some aged cheeses, sauerkraut, and soy sauce. But ongoing research is looking more closely at the role of tyramine in migraines, as it may not be as big of a trigger as previously thought.

Other migraine attack triggers can be varied and seem random:

• hormone triggers in people assigned female at birth
• stress
• anxiety
• excitement
• poor sleep quality
• strenuous exercise (if you don’t do it often)
• bright lights
• changes in climate
• hormone replacement therapy drugs

Keeping a journal of when your migraine attacks occur can help you identify your personal triggers.

There are many types of migraine. Two of the most common types are migraine without aura and migraine with aura. Some people have both types.

Many people living with migraine have more than one type of migraine.

Migraine without aura

Most people with migraine don’t experience an aura with their headaches.

Individuals who have migraine without an aura have had at least five attacks that have these characteristics:

• attack usually lasts 4 to 72 hours without treatment or if treatment doesn’t work
• attack has at least two of these traits:
  • it occurs only on one side of the head (unilateral)
  • pain is pulsating or throbbing
  • pain level is moderate or severe
  • pain gets worse when you move, like when walking or climbing stairs
• attack has at least one of these traits:
  • it makes you sensitive to light (photophobia)
  • it makes you sensitive to sound (phonophobia)
  • you experience nausea with or without vomiting or diarrhea
• attack isn’t caused by another health problem or diagnosis

Migraine with aura

An aura typically occurs in 25 percent of people who have migraine.

If you have a migraine with aura, you most likely have at least two attacks that have these characteristics:

• an aura that goes away, is completely reversible, and includes at least one of these symptoms:
  • visual problems (the most common aura symptom)
  • sensory problems of the body, face, or tongue, like numbness, tingling, or dizziness
  • speech or language problems
  • problems moving or weakness, which may last up to 72 hours
• brainstem symptoms, which includes:
  • difficulty talking or dysarthria (unclear speech)
  • vertigo (a spinning feeling)
  • tinnitus or ringing in the ears
  • diplopia (double vision)
  • ataxia or an inability to control body movements
  • eye problems in only one eye, including flashes of light, blind spots, or temporary blindness (when these symptoms occur, they’re called retinal migraines)
• an aura that has at least two of these traits:
  • at least one symptom spread gradually over 5 or more minutes
  • each symptom of the aura lasts between 5 minutes and 1 hour (if you have three symptoms, they may last up to 3 hours)
  • at least one symptom of the aura is only on one side of the head, including vision, speech, or language problems
  • aura occurs with the attack or 1 hour before the attack begins
• attack isn’t caused by another health problem and transient ischemic attack has been excluded as a cause

An aura usually occurs before the headache pain begins, but it can continue once the attack starts. Alternatively, an aura may start at the same time as the attack does.

Chronic migraine

Chronic migraine used to be called a “combination” or “mixed” because it can have features of migraine and a tension headache. It’s also sometimes called a severe migraine headache and can be caused by medication overuse.

People who have chronic migraine have a severe tension headache or migraine attack more than 15 days a month for 3 or more months. More than eight of those attacks are migraine with or without aura.

Some additional risk factors that may make an individual susceptible to chronic migraine include:

• anxiety
• depression
• another type of chronic pain, like arthritis
• other serious health problems (comorbidities), like high blood pressure
• previous head or neck injuries

Acute migraine is a general term for a migraine attack that isn’t diagnosed as chronic. Another name for this type is episodic migraine.

People who have episodic migraine have attacks up to 14 days a month. Thus, people with episodic migraine have fewer attacks a month than people with chronic ones.

Vestibular migraine is also known as migraine-associated vertigo. About 1 percent of the general population lives with vestibular migraine. The symptoms affect balance, cause dizziness, or both. People of any age, including children, may experience vestibular migraine attacks.

If diagnosed, your doctor may suggest you see a vestibular rehabilitation therapist. They can teach you exercises to help you stay balanced when your symptoms are at their worst. Because these migraine attacks can be so debilitating, you and your doctor may talk about taking preventive medications.

According to the National Headache Foundation, menstrual-related migraine affects up to 60 percent of women who experience any type of migraine. It can occur with or without an aura. Attacks can also happen before, during, or after menstruation and during ovulation.

Research has shown that menstrual migraine tends to be more intense, last longer, and have more significant nausea than migraine not associated with the menstrual cycle.

Migraine aura without headache, also called a silent migraine or visual migraine without headache, occurs when a person has an aura, but doesn’t get a headache. This type of migraine is more common in people who start having migraines after age 40.

Visual aura symptoms are most common. With this type of migraine, the aura may gradually occur, with symptoms spreading over several minutes and moving from one symptom to another. After visual symptoms, people may have numbness, speech problems, and/or tingling in the face or hands.

Hormonal migraine, or menstrual migraine, is linked with the female hormones, commonly estrogen. Many people who ovulate report migraine headaches during:

• their period
• ovulation
• pregnancy
• perimenopause

Many people experience nausea as a symptom of migraine. Many also vomit. These symptoms may start at the same time the attack does. Usually, though, they start about 1 hour after the headache pain begins.

Nausea and vomiting can be as troubling as the attack itself. If you only have nausea, you may be able to take your usual migraine medications. Vomiting, though, can prevent you from being able to take pills or keep them in your body long enough to be absorbed. If you have to delay taking migraine medication, migraine is likely to become more severe.

Treating nausea and preventing vomiting

If you have nausea and vomiting, your doctor may suggest medication to ease nausea called anti-nausea or antiemetic drugs. In this case, the antiemetic can help prevent vomiting and improve nausea.

Acupressure may also be helpful in treating migraine nausea. A 2012 study showed that acupressure reduced the intensity of migraine-associated nausea starting as soon as 30 minutes, gaining improvement over 4 hours.

If you’ve been diagnosed with migraine, there are a few options that may help you prevent a migraine attack. Some may work better for you than others:

• Learn the foods, smells, and situations that trigger your migraine attacks and avoid those things when possible.
• Stay hydrated. Dehydration can lead to both dizziness and headaches.
• Avoid skipping meals when possible.
• Focus on quality sleep. A good night’s sleep is important for overall health.
• Quit smoking.
• Make it a priority to reduce stress in your life.
• Invest time and energy in developing relaxation skills.
• Exercise regularly. Exercise has been linked to lowered stress levels.

Doctors diagnose migraine by listening to your symptoms, taking a thorough medical and family history, and performing a physical exam to rule out other potential causes.

Imaging scans, like a CT scan or MRI, can rule out other causes, including:

• tumors
• abnormal brain structures
• stroke

Surgery for migraine isn’t recommended, but some medical tools have been studied and endorsed for helping lessen migraine attacks by either decreasing or increasing nervous system activity. Currently, the FDA has approved four neuromodulation treatments:

• single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulator, a handheld device that produces a magnetic impulse that affects electrical signaling in the brain
• transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulator, a small, noninvasive tool that targets the vagus nerve in the neck via electrical stimulation
• transcutaneous supraorbital neurostimulator, a device that simulates the supraorbital nerves with electrical stimulation
• multi-channel brain neuromodulation system, a headset that can target multiple nerves in the head

Talk with your doctor about the best neuromodulation treatment for you and your specific type of migraine.

Children can have many of the same types of migraine as adults.

Until they’re older teens, children may be more likely to have symptoms on both sides of the head. It’s rare for children to have headache pain in the back of the head. Their migraine attacks tend to last 2 to 72 hours.

A few migraine variants are more common in children. One of the more common variants is abdominal migraine.

Abdominal migraine

Children with abdominal migraine may have a stomachache instead of a headache. The pain can be moderate or severe. Usually, pain is in the middle of the stomach, around the belly button. But the pain may not be in this specific area. The belly may just feel “sore.”

Your child may also have experience headache. Other symptoms can include:

• lack of appetite
• nausea with or without vomiting
• sensitivity to light or sound

Children who have abdominal migraine are likely to develop more typical migraine symptoms as adults.

For many pregnant people, their migraine attacks improve during pregnancy. But they may become worse following delivery due to sudden hormonal shifts. Attacks during pregnancy need special attention to make sure that the cause of the attack is understood.

Research is ongoing, but a recent small study showed that women with migraine during pregnancy experienced a higher rate of having:

• preterm or early delivery
• preeclampsia
• a baby born with low birth weight

Certain migraine medications may not be considered safe during pregnancy. This can include aspirin. If you have migraine during pregnancy, work with your doctor to find ways to treat your migraine that won’t harm your developing baby.

The frequent and recurring use of migraine medication can sometimes cause what’s known as medication overuse headache (previously called a rebound headache).

When determining how to deal with migraine, talk with your doctor about the frequency of your medication intake. Also, make sure to discuss alternatives to medications.

Migraine and tension headaches, the most common type of headaches, share some similar symptoms. But migraine is also associated with many symptoms not shared by tension headaches. Migraine and tension headaches also respond differently to the same treatments.

Both tension headaches and migraine can have:

• mild-to-moderate pain
• a steady ache
• pain on both sides of the head

Only migraine can have these symptoms:

• moderate-to-severe pain
• pounding or throbbing
• an inability to do your usual activities
• pain on one side of the head
• nausea with or without vomiting
• an aura
• sensitivity to light, sound, or both

You can try a few things at home that may also help remedy the pain from migraine:

• Lie down in a quiet, darkroom.
• Massage your scalp or temples.
• Place a cold cloth over your forehead or behind your neck.

Sometimes the symptoms of migraine can mimic those of a stroke. It’s important to seek immediate medical attention if you or a loved one has a headache that:

• causes slurred speech or drooping on one side of the face
• causes new leg or arm weakness
• comes on very suddenly and severely with no lead-in symptoms or warning
• occurs with a fever, neck stiffness, confusion, seizure, double vision, weakness, numbness, or difficulty speaking
• has an aura where the symptoms last longer than an hour
• would be called the “worst headache ever”
• is accompanied by loss of consciousness

If headaches are getting in the way of your daily life, and you’re not sure if they are a migraine symptom, it’s important to talk with your doctor. Headaches can be a sign of other issues, and while migraine can feel debilitating at times, there are many treatments available.

The sooner you start to talk about your symptoms, the sooner your doctor can get you on a treatment plan that may include medication and lifestyle changes.

Read this article in Spanish.

Headache: causes, types, treatment

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Headache

Headache

04.07.23

For many of us, a headache is not a problem, as it is easily resolved after taking pain medication. And when the pill stops helping, we do not go to the doctor, but switch to stronger drugs and even injections.

Unfortunately, the consequences are lost time. The time when you could, but did not want to discover the problem that your body is signaling persistently. After all, a headache is not an independent disease, it can be a symptom of serious diseases. Only a doctor should diagnose and treat them.

Why headaches occur

As a rule, not the whole head hurts, but some part of it. Causes of headache depending on its location:

• the temple area can hurt with sudden changes in blood pressure, poisoning the body with toxins or infectious diseases;
• headache in the back of the head occurs with high blood pressure, problems with the cervical spine (osteochondrosis, spondylosis) or hypertonicity of the muscles of the neck and collar zone;
• if the forehead hurts, it may be an inflammatory disease of the paranasal sinuses – frontal sinusitis. It can also be a sign of increased intracranial pressure or occipital nerve entrapment. Such pain accompanies very serious diseases – meningitis, pneumonia, malaria, typhoid;
• if painful sensations occur around the eyes, these are signs of migraine, vegetative-vascular dystonia. This is how eye diseases, including glaucoma, can manifest themselves.

Be careful if your head hurts regularly, with a certain cyclicality. This is a clear and specific signal – you have chronic diseases, or the level of stress and hard work is very high.

Different headache intensity

Headache in a particular area can be of varying intensity: from sharp and sudden attacks to prolonged debilitating. This is also valuable diagnostic information.

The intensity of the pain in the head can be:

• Strong, sometimes unbearable. The causes of such pain are migraines, pressure drops, sinusitis, head injuries or infections. If the pain does not subside with time, but grows, it means that the painful process is progressing.
• Long lasting. This is a very serious SOS signal that our body can only give. It can indicate lesions of the nervous system of an infectious nature, meningitis, tuberculosis, parasitic diseases, and even a brain tumor. Particularly worrisome frequent headache.
• Pulsating. Most often this is how migraine manifests itself. However, it can also be vascular diseases – brain damage, impaired outflow of cerebrospinal fluid or venous outflow. Pulsating pain is caused by some types of infectious lesions, otitis, glaucoma. A severe and prolonged throbbing headache is especially dangerous.
• Sudden. P As a rule, it is caused by spasm of cerebral vessels. This happens in case of nerve infringement with cervical osteochondrosis, with a vascular crisis. An aneurysm rupture, intracranial hemorrhage is very dangerous. But a sharp headache often occurs as a result of stress, if a person is nervous or poisoned by low-quality products.

Be careful if your head hurts regularly, with a certain cyclicality. This is a clear and specific signal – you have chronic diseases, or the level of stress and hard work is very high.

Which diseases are accompanied by headaches

Only a doctor can establish a diagnosis, after several stages of examination. After all, with similar symptoms, the causes of headaches are different. Here is a list of the main diseases accompanied by pain in the head:

• Migraine. Severe headache , often throbbing, the person is sick, irritated by light, odors. There is a general weakness, a desire to lie down. Often the pain is on one side of the face. A migraine attack can last a few hours, or maybe 2-3 days.
• Tension headache. The most common type of disease. Usually the head hurts slightly, but the pain returns again and again. It can last 6-7 days. The pain compresses the skull, is localized in the back of the head, frontal part, crown, or spreads to all departments. This type of pain occurs in people who are engaged in sedentary work, driving for a long time, or constantly in a state of stress. Their shoulder girdle is so constrained that it does not relax even during sleep. The patency of muscles, nerve impulses, and tissue nutrition are impaired.
• Cluster disease. Very difficult to tolerate by patients, sometimes goes into a continuous form. The pain pulsates on one side of the head, compresses the eye or part of the forehead. The eye begins to water and swell. The peak of the attack lasts from half an hour to an hour and a half. Cluster pain is more common in men.
• Pain caused by infections. She is accompanied by chills, fever. The pain presses on the temples, eyes, forehead. With SARS, cough and runny nose join the symptoms. With meningitis, the pain is severe, throbbing, accompanied by vomiting.
• Pain resulting from trauma. Their nature and intensity depends on the nature of the injury. Characteristic for concussion, skull damage, displacement of the vertebrae in the cervical spine. Moreover, unpleasant sensations can occur immediately, or they can occur after some time.
• Sinus pain. It accompanies inflammation of the sinuses, therefore it is localized in the frontal part of the head or near the nose. The patient has a runny nose, nasal congestion. You can get rid of it only by curing the underlying disease.
• Pain provoked by intracranial pressure. These are massive, intense pain sensations covering the entire surface of the head and the area around the eyes. Patients describe them as pressing or bursting. Often a person is sick and he can hardly tolerate bright light.
• Pain arising from damage to the trigeminal nerve. Sharp, short (from 2 to 5 seconds), but very painful. Occurs suddenly in any part of the face. Most often, inflammation of the trigeminal nerve occurs in people with unhealthy teeth and oral problems.

What examinations are required

With complaints of headache, you should consult a therapist. First, the doctor collects an anamnesis – clarifies the nature, localization, duration of the headache. Remember when it first appeared and how often it recurs. In order to exclude additional factors that can provoke attacks, you need to undergo an examination by a neurologist, an ENT doctor, an ophthalmologist and visit a dental office. They will be able to accurately identify the causes and types of headaches and prescribe treatment.

Your doctor may recommend the following tests for you:

• electroencephalography – a study of the state of the brain. This is how vascular and tumor pathologies, hematomas are detected;
• x-ray – will show if there are signs of hydrocephalus, if there was a head injury or sinusitis;
• magnetic resonance imaging – this is how you can detect a tumor, problems of cerebral circulation, diseases of the nasal sinuses, the consequences of a stroke.
• computed tomography – this way you can determine if there are hemorrhages in the brain, what is the structure of the brain tissue and blood vessels;
• electromyography – determines the damage to neural connections and nerves;
• Ultrasound of the vessels of the neck with Doppler – a popular procedure reveals atherosclerosis, vascular and blood flow pathologies, aneurysms;
• laboratory tests – tests will help detect inflammation, the presence of infection, cholesterol metabolism problems and autoimmune processes.

Headache treatment

The consequences of headache can be very serious. The more often and stronger the headaches become, the brighter their consequences will manifest themselves – up to muscle spasm and brain hypoxia. And besides, the underlying disease will inevitably begin to progress.

Headache treatment is not limited to the use of drugs – although the use of anti-inflammatory, painkillers and local analgesics is an important part of the treatment. For example, a course of drug blockades greatly facilitates the patient’s condition.

Good help in the treatment of headaches will be:

• manual therapy is a method of applying manual massage techniques to the spine. Especially effective for migraine and tension pain;
• massage techniques. Effective for recovery from injuries and chronic migraines;
• acupuncture – the impact of medical needles through special points on the body. So you can activate the work of organs associated with certain nerve endings and start the process of self-healing;
• osteopathy – in this case, muscle clamps and changes in the joints and organs are worked out using special massage techniques on points on the patient’s body;
• physiotherapy – treatment with ultrasound, alternating or constant weak electric and magnetic fields, exposure to heat. Effective for different types of headaches;
• physiotherapy exercises – moderate physical activity, especially good in the treatment of post-traumatic conditions and overexertion pain;
• Botox injections – if the muscles are in spasm, an injection of Botox will relax the area of ​​​​the body and relieve headaches;
• extracorporeal hemocorrection is a method based on blood purification from excess cholesterol and toxic substances. It has proven itself in the treatment of multiple sclerosis and pathologies of the immune system;
• folk remedies. For the most part, grandmother’s lotions and conspiracies can not be recommended in every case, and only as a method of complacency. Preparing decoctions and compresses, you can miss precious time and miss the early stage of the disease. Therefore, in any case, the first thing to do is consult a doctor.

How to prevent headaches

The best prevention of headaches is a healthy lifestyle and the ability to avoid stress.

The main conditions for this:

• proper nutrition. Food should not contain toxins, not provoke the appearance of excess weight and supply the body with the necessary vitamins and amino acids;
• physical activity. Feasible and moderate physical education, warm-ups during the working day, swimming, running, hippotherapy will keep the muscles in good shape and prevent the occurrence of muscle clamps;
• no bad habits. Alcohol, smoking, abuse of coffee and energy drinks are the first harbingers of imminent headaches. Take care of yourself.
• a full night’s sleep. Only in this way will the body be able to have a good rest and restore its strength.

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Why does pain occur?

A headache in the morning does not necessarily signal danger. The reasons may be external, including sleeping in an uncomfortable position or drinking alcohol the night before. Therefore, the first advice is to create optimal conditions for a night’s rest.

Adjust mode. A common cause of morning sickness is a banal lack of sleep. To recover, the body needs 7-8 hours of sleep per day. Excess sleep is also harmful: an extra couple of hours in bed will not add vigor – but it can provoke a headache.

Review habits. Before going to bed, it is better to refuse heavy, fatty and salty foods, not to drink too much liquid and not to abuse alcohol. All this is fraught with edema and even intoxication of the body. Sometimes the head may ache from hunger or sudden changes in diet. For example, if you decide to give up coffee, it is better not to quit in one day, but to reduce the number of cups gradually.

Arrange a bed. If you sleep in an uncomfortable position, the vertebral arteries are pinched, blood circulation in the head and neck is disturbed. Because of this, heaviness and stiffness appear in the morning: the temple, forehead or neck usually hurts on one side.

Ventilate the room before going to bed. Often the head hurts in the morning due to oxygen starvation of the brain. The main thing here is not to overdo it and not to sleep in a draft.

When is it time to see a doctor?

It is important not to self-medicate and seek help if:

• headache began to disturb more often;

• the nature, place or intensity of pain has changed;

• taking a regular pain reliever does not help.

For example, a headache caused by overexertion can last up to three days. You can take painkillers on your own, but if after 2-3 days there is no effect, be sure to consult a doctor.

Remember that the cause of morning pain can be high blood pressure, taking certain medications, low endorphins, depression, sleep apnea – stopping breathing during sleep. Sometimes patients have serious disorders: neoplasms in the brain, aneurysms and other vascular pathologies, autoimmune diseases.

See a doctor as soon as possible if you have had a head injury. Or if, in addition to a headache, there is one or more accompanying symptoms: high fever, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, convulsions, shortness of breath; if there is double vision, the pain increases sharply or radiates to the neck.