Relieve Migraine Headaches With 6 Natural Remedies

Millions of American suffer from headaches and migraines every day without understanding the cause of their pain. While we do not know what causes migraines directly, researchers do know that it involves changes in the blood flow to the brain; unfortunately, most of us use painkillers as the first approach for relief. Headaches are extremely common and can stem from a variety of causes such as tension, sinuses, back and neck pain. Migraines can be triggered by a multitude of factors including:

• Alcohol
• Weather
• Hormones
• Foods such as cheeses, chocolates, nuts, dairy products and more
• Improper diet
• Certain Odors
• Bright Lights
• Stressors
• Caffeine
• Lack of exercise
• Medications
• Heat

Genetics and sex can also play a role in your chances of experiencing headaches. More than half of those who suffer from migraines have an affected family member, and, for unknown reasons, women are three times more likely to get a migraine than a man.

Fortunately, there are several at-home or at-work remedies you can use to naturally treat headaches, without heading to the medicine cabinet.

1. Use Essential Oils

• Lavender. Not only does lavender smell delicious, but this essential oil is noted for helping ease headache pain. According to one study, the inhale of lavender may be an effective and safe treatment in acute management of migraine headaches.
• If you often get headaches at work, try lighting a diffuser or keeping natural lavender lotion nearby to put on when you feel that ache coming on. If you experience the onset of a severe headache while at home, try taking a lavender bath or purchasing a lavender pillow to place over your eyelids while you rest.
• Peppermint. This soothing essential oil has shown to relieve tension headaches. The fresh-smelling components of this oil can help control blood flow in the body, relieving tension in the head. Peppermint can also open up the sinuses relieving sinus pressure. Women who are pregnant should not use peppermint essential oils.
• Basil. This strong-scented herb is commonly found atop a pizza; however, basil also works as a muscle relaxant, easing tension and tight muscles.
• Ginger. Fresh ginger can help reduce inflammation and ease headache pain. Crush up fresh ginger and add it to boiling water for a soothing ginger tea.

“Other essential oils that hold promise for headache sufferers include chamomile, cinnamon, clove, eucalyptus, ginger, jasmine, lemongrass, marjoram, patchouli, peppermint.” –MigraineAgain

2. Take Magnesium

• Magnesium levels can affect serotonin receptors in your brain.
• Magnesium helps maintain a steady heartbeat. About half the magnesium in your body is found in your bones. Most is in your tissues and organ cells.
• Magnesium is responsible for over 300 essential metabolic reactions in
• Studies have shown that many people who suffer from headaches may be low in magnesium. In one study, a controlled group of patients who experienced consistent headaches experienced a 41.6% reduction in headaches after taking 600mg of magnesium for twelve weeks, as compared to only 15.8% reduction in migraine headaches in the placebo group.
• Magnesium is effective for women suffering from headaches due to a change in estrogen levels.
• You can get your daily dose of magnesium in your diet through foods including green vegetables, cocoa, tea, legumes, nuts and seeds, whole grains, bananas, yogurt and potato skins.

3. Get a Massage

• If you have regular headaches due to back or neck pain, regular massages or chiropractic adjustments can reduce the consistency and pain of headaches and migraines.
• Massages can also get rid of buildup tension and stress in your back, neck, and shoulders.
• If you have short-term headaches, you can use a DIY scalp massage by massaging your occipital nerve, the area in the back of the head and at the base of the skull. You can also try massaging the sides of your head just in front of the ear by rubbing your index fingers in a circular motion.
• Massages are also beneficial in healing multiple symptoms of the body by identifying reflex points in the hands and feet.

4. Soak Your Feet

• Did you know you have over 72,000 nerve endings in your feet? This is why your feet are filled with self-healing trigger points that can help ease tension in your mind, body, and soul.
• Soaking your feet may sound a bit silly, but it may actually help alleviate headache pain. Many people treat a variety of symptoms by looking at the feet based on the principal that the feet are connected to every part of the body.
• Soaking the feet draws toxins out and promotes healing and relaxation.
• Hot water on your feet will help ease pressure on your head by drawing blood down to your feet.
• Soaking your feet also helps relax the body.
• Try soaking your feet in a combination of magnesium, sulfate and Epsom salt to flush toxins from your skin’s cells, reduce inflammation, increase blood circulation and ease muscle cramps. As your feet absorb the magnesium, pain-reducing ions are released into your muscles, stimulating relaxation. The sulfate will target and eliminated harmful substances from the body.
• You can also soak your feet in a variety of essential oils for an extra soothing treatment.

5. Stay Hydrated

According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%. –www.usgs.gov

• Dehydration can lead to headaches!
• Not only is your body made of water, but your brain is roughly 75% water! Every cell in your body uses water, and it is used for some of our body’s most basic functions such as regulating body temperature, flushing wastes through the system, lubricating joints, and forming saliva.
• Dehydration can effect your mood, energy, and overall well-being.
• Stay hydrated by keeping a water bottle handy, switch your coffee for tea, and pick snacks that have high water content like fruits or yogurt.
• Signs of dehydration include:

1. Bad breath. Dehydration can prevent your body from making enough saliva, leading to a bacterial buildup which causes bad breath.
2. Dry Skin. Dehydration can lead to dizziness and dry skin due to lack of blood volume.
3. Muscle Cramps. The hotter you get, the more likely you are to get muscle cramps. Keeping hydrated keeps your body temperature regulated and your muscles cool.
4. Food Cravings. Dehydration can lead to food cravings, especially sweets. This is because a lack of hydration can make it difficult for nutrients and internal organs to release stored energy and glycogens. This can leave you craving sweet treats.
5. Headaches. Your brain sits inside a fluid sack that creates a shock-resistant boundary between the brain and the skull. If that fluid sack is depleted, the brain can push against parts of the skill, causing headaches.

6. Chiropractic Care

Headaches are one of the most common reasons for doctors visits today. While most headaches are not life threatening, many can lead to severe pain that interferes with your daily tasks. Chiropractors commonly treat patients with headaches due to neck and back pain. When your spine is out of line, your nerves can become irritated leading to inflammation, tension, and headaches!

How can you help prevent headaches?

1. Maintain good posture to avoid misalignments in your back and neck.
2. Avoid unnecessary pressure and tension.
3. Find time to relax and close your eyes.
4. Walk away from your computer and put down your phone to ease tension on your eyes.
5. Exercise regularly to stimulate blood flow and stretch out your muscles.
6. Balance out your sleep and make sure you are not sleeping too much.
7. Focus on your diet and hydration.

If you are suffering from migraine headaches, back pain, or have been in a car accident, contact All American Healthcare today for a free pain exam that includes an exam, evaluation, and x-rays.

Fast and Simple Ways to Get Rid of a Headache

Image Credit: Victoria Gnatiuk/iStock/GettyImages

It could be a throbbing migraine or a head-squeezing tension headache. When it comes, you want to know fast ways to relieve your headache. For most headaches, simple remedies work. They include over-the-counter (OTC) medications and steps you can take as soon as a headache starts.

Start With Prevention

By far, the most common headaches are tension headaches and migraines, according to Harvard Medical School. Tension headaches commonly cause pain on both sides of your head, making it feel like your head is in a vice. Migraines are even worse. They may cause throbbing pain on one side of your head, along with nausea and sensitivity to light. The simplest way to get rid of these headaches is to prevent them in the first place.

Tension headaches can occur when muscles contract or tense up, says the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). Many different factors may be involved in triggering migraines, says NLM. For both types, avoid stress. If you get migraines, learn your headache triggers and how to avoid them. Common triggers include bright lights, strong odors and certain foods.

Read more: 8 Surprising Things Giving You a Headache

OTC Meds to Help Headaches

The simplest way to get rid of a headache? Take an OTC headache medicine as soon as you feel a headache coming on, experts say.

“Combination medications are best,” says Michael Doerrler, DO, an assistant professor of neurology and a headache specialist at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago. “The basic medications are NSAIDs, acetaminophen and caffeine,” he explains, citing Excedrin as an example of this kind of combination.

NSAIDs are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines like ibuprofen and aspirin. Common brand names include Advil and Motrin. Acetaminophen is the generic version of Tylenol. Though they’re all available over the counter, people with headaches shouldn’t underestimate the pain-relieving power of these drugs.

A study published in JAMA in November 2017 found that, in more than 400 patients with moderate-to-severe pain treated in an emergency room, people given a combination of acetaminophen and ibuprofen did as well as those given a narcotic drug (opioid). The OTC combination drugs were the equivalent of two Advil along with two Tylenol.

Read more: Guys Can Get Migraines, Too

Try a Cup of Coffee

The reason some OTC headache medicines include caffeine is that caffeine helps headaches in two ways: It can increase your stomach’s absorption of other pain relievers, and it has some pain-relieving properties of its own, according to the American Migraine Foundation.

“Your brain treats caffeine like a pain medication,” explains Dr. Doerrler. “It has a direct effect on parts of the brain that sense pain. But you have to be careful. Too much caffeine can increase your tolerance. When you go too long without your caffeine, you can get a rebound headache.”

Caffeine works best for migraine headaches because of a brain substance called adenosine. Adenosine goes up during a migraine attack and may cause blood vessels to swell in the brain. Caffeine blocks adenosine, according to the American Migraine Foundation.

What Else Can You Do?

“People with frequent headaches learn what works best for them,” says Dr. Doerrler. “What works for one person may not work for another. For most people, getting to a dark, quiet place, lying down, eating a light snack and drinking some fluid seems to help. You should also avoid being too hot or too cold.”

According to Harvard Medical School and Mayo Clinic, here are some other things you can do:

• Use a heating pad on your neck
• Take a warm bath or shower
• Do some deep breathing and meditation
• Use an ice pack on the throbbing part of your head

When to Seek Help

Some headaches should not be treated at home. If you have any of these headache symptoms, says Harvard Medical School, call your doctor:

• New headaches that start after age 50
• Unusually severe headaches
• Headaches that hurt more when you cough, move or bend over
• Headaches that get steadily worse
• Headaches with fever or stiff neck
• Headache that comes after a blow to the head
• Headaches that include any change in speech or vision

Dr. Doerrler warns that frequent use of NSAIDs or acetaminophen can be dangerous. Acetaminophen can cause liver damage, and NSAIDs have been linked to stroke and heart disease. “If you are treating your own headaches three or more times per week, ask for help from a headache specialist,” he says. “You may need more than simple measures.”

The Best Pressure Points to Treat Headaches

Experiencing the pain and discomfort of a headache is incredibly common. If you’re looking for a more natural way to treat your headache, you may want to think about acupressure and pressure points.

Pressure points are parts of the body believed to be extra sensitive, able to stimulate relief in the body. Practitioners of reflexology, a discipline of Chinese medicine, believe that touching pressure points in a certain way can:

• Improve your health
• Ease pain
• Restore balance in the body

Reflexology is the study of how one part of the human body is connected to another. This means you might have to massage a different location — like your hand — to treat a different area, like your head. You’ll reach for the right pressure points to ease your pain.

If you want to learn more about treating your headache this way, it’s important to understand how to do so correctly. We explain what science says and give you some pressure points to try next time your head hurts.

The Science Behind Pressure Points and Headaches

There’s not too much science that supports the use of reflexology to treat headaches, and the studies we have are small and need to be expanded. However, there are a few studies that have looked into how massage therapy on the head and shoulders can relieve headaches. This sometimes involves stimulating pressure points on the head.

In one small study from 2002, scientists investigated how massage might help four adults that were experiencing chronic tension headaches, two to three times per week for six months.

In the study, the massages reduced the number of headaches in each subject within the first week of treatment. By the end of the treatment period, the average number of headaches each subject received fell from almost seven headaches per week to just two per week. The average length of a subject’s headache also decreased by half during the treatment period from an average of eight hours to an average of four.

In a much older but slightly larger study, scientists looked at how 10 intense one-hour massage treatments spread over two weeks might affect 21 women experiencing chronic headaches. As in the smaller study, subjects in this study received massages from certified massage practitioners. The effects of the massages were then studied in a more long-term time frame.

Researchers in this study found that those 10 intense massage sessions led to a reduced occurrence, duration, and intensity of headaches.

How to Use Pressure Points to Relieve Headaches

There are some well-known pressure points in the body believed to relieve headaches. Here’s where they are and how you can use them:

Union valley

The union valley points are located on the web between your thumb and index finger. To treat headaches:

1. Start by pinching this area with the thumb and index finger of your opposite hand firmly but not painfully for 10 seconds.
2. Next, make small circles with your thumb on this area in one direction and then the other, for 10 seconds each.
3. Repeat this process on the Union Valley point on your opposite hand.

This type of pressure point treatment is believed to relieve tension in the head and neck. Tension is often associated with headaches.

Drilling bamboo

Drilling bamboo points are located at the indentations on either side of the spot where the bridge of your nose meets the ridge of your eyebrows. To use these pressure points to treat headaches:

1. Use both of your index fingers to apply firm pressure to both points at once.
2. Hold for 10 seconds.
3. Release and repeat.

Touching these pressure points can relieve headaches that are caused by eyestrain and sinus pain or pressure.

Gates of consciousness

The gates of consciousness pressure points are located at the base of the skull in the parallel hollow areas between the two vertical neck muscles. To use these pressure points:

1. Place your index and middle fingers of either hand onto these pressure points.
2. Press firmly upward on both sides at once for 10 seconds, then release and repeat.

Applying firm touch to these pressure points can help relieve headaches caused by tension in the neck.

Third eye

The third eye point can be found between your two eyebrows where the bridge of your nose meets your forehead.

1. Use the index finger of one hand to apply firm pressure to this area for 1 minute.

Firm pressure applied to the third eye pressure point is thought to relieve eyestrain and sinus pressure that often causes headaches.

Shoulder well

The shoulder well is located at the edge of your shoulder, halfway between your shoulder point and the base of your neck. To use this pressure point:

1. Use the thumb of one hand to apply firm, circular pressure to this point for 1 minute.
2. Then switch and repeat on the opposite side.

Applying firm touch to the shoulder well pressure point can help relieve stiffness in your neck and shoulders, relieving neck pain and preventing headaches caused by this kind of sensation.

More Research is Needed

While using pressure points to treat headaches isn’t well studied, there’s some limited research suggesting that massage of the head and shoulders can help relieve headaches.

Because reflexology is a noninvasive, nonpharmaceutical way to treat headaches, it’s very safe. Just remember it’s a complementary treatment. You should seek out professional medical help if you have recurring or very intense headaches.

Precision Pain Care and Rehabilitation has two convenient locations in Richmond Hill – Queens and New Hyde Park – Long Island. Call the Richmond Hill office at (718) 215-1888, or (516) 419-4480 for Long Island office, to arrange an appointment with our Interventional Pain Management Specialist, Dr. Jeffrey Chacko.

Headache due to acidity: Home remedies to cure headache due to acidity

A headache is one of the most common ailments and most people suffer from a headache at some point or another. The reason for a headache can vary from stress to high blood pressure to allergy to low blood sugar. Another reason for a headache is acidity, which is caused by when excess acid is produced in your stomach. Apart from headache, acidity can cause inflammation and pain in stomach, heartburn and chest pain. For a headache due to acidity, it is not advisable to eat a pain killer as these medicines have side effects. So, if you are searching for an effective home remedy to treat headache due to acidity, your search ends here. (ALSO READ Home remedies for acidity: Try these 11 easy ways for quick relief from acidity).Also Read – Anxiety Can be Treated With Moderate And Strenuous Exercise: Study

1. Eucalyptus oil

Also Read – Revealed! Disha Patani’s Fitness Secret Is Out Now: Watch Video to Find Out How To Be In Shape Like Her

Eucalyptus oil will help in reducing the pain and relaxing the strained muscles. It has a calming effect. All you have to do is take a few drops of eucalyptus oil and rub it on your forehead. Leave it for 15 to 20 minutes, you will feel better. Also Read – 6 Home Remedies to Get Rid of Dry And Patchy Skin This Winter

2. Basil leaves

Basil leaves will not only relieve your headache, it is also a great home remedy for acidity. Eat eight to 12 basil leaves. This will give your quick relief from acidity and the headache due to acidity. It will relax your muscles and has analgesic and calming effects. You can also make a basil tea by boiling three to four leaves in a cup of boiling water. You can add in honey to make it tasty. Sip this tea to get relief from a headache.(ALSO READ Home remedies for hair loss: 6 effective tips to stop hair fall and boost hair growth).

3. Buttermilk and coriander juice

Drink half a glass of buttermilk and one tablespoon of coriander juice to get relief from headache and acidity. It is one of the most effective home remedies for acidity and the headache caused due to acidity.(ALSO READ Home remedies for hair loss: 6 effective tips to stop hair fall and boost hair growth).

4. Lemon

Lemon will help you to unwind and relax. It will also help in controlling the acid-alkaline balance of the body. Add juice of one large lemon to lukewarm water, mix well and drink it. This will reduce the headache caused by gas in the stomach. You can also apply lemon crust on your forehead to get rid of the headache.(ALSO READ How to lose weight fast: 11 quick and easy ways to lose a lot of weight fast).

5. Cinnamon

Another effective treatment for headache is cinnamon. All you have to do is take some cinnamon sticks, pound them into powder. Now add in few drops of water to make a thick paste. Apply this paste on your forehead. Let it stay there for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, wash it off with normal water. You will get relief from headache.

5 best foods for headache relief

Prone to headaches and debilitating migraines? Let your meals do a little work for you — and hopefully help you before you head to the medicine cabinet (again!). Here are a few of my favorite foods loaded with migraine-fighting power.

1. Ginger

This spicy root may have the ability to block prostaglandins (neurotransmitters that play a role in inflammation), which cause a slight swelling of your brain that may be the source of your discomfort. Not only has this spice been found to fight migraines, but it also may help relieve nausea, which commonly goes hand in hand with debilitating headaches.

Grate it fresh into dishes like sauteed mushrooms and watercress, or make a carrot ginger soup to up the comfort.

Samantha Okazaki / TODAY

2. Mackerel

This is high in omega-3 fatty acids, essential fatty acids known to be healthy fats due to their anti-inflammatory and nerve-protecting actions. Research shows intake of these fats can reduce the frequency, duration and severity of headaches and migraines. If mackerel isn’t your favorite swimmer, these fatty acids can be found in other oily fish, such as salmon or sardines.

RELATED: 5 popular nutrition myths it’s time to forget

3. Plain yogurt

Yogurt offers high levels of riboflavin, a part of the B vitamin complex that has been shown to help reduce the number of migraine attacks in people who commonly suffer from them. It may also help increase the effectiveness of beta-blockers, drugs used to prevent migraines. If yogurt isn’t your breakfast of choice, eggs also provide this B vitamin.

Sara Bir

4. Spinach

Leafy greens are high in magnesium, a nutrient that has been found to have powerful migraine-relieving properties. Spinach in particular will provide you with 24 milligrams in just one cup.

We all know greens equal good, but here is a little more food motivation for you: Regular magnesium intake has been shown to have the ability to reduce migraine attacks by 41.2 percent. Dress up your plain greens with plums, pecans and a pomegranate dressing, or throw into your smoothie to up the migraine-fighting power.

RELATED: How to pair your foods to make them even more nutritious

5. Watermelon

Not being properly hydrated can be a huge factor when it comes to headache discomfort. Dehydration causes a drop in your blood volume, reducing the amount of oxygen available to your brain, and causing your pain receptors to be affected. It’s always important to drink water, but eating fruits and veggies like watermelon, cucumber, celery and carrots, which have a high water content, can help contribute to your staying hydrated all day. Pack in the h30 by blending your watermelon into a refreshing watermelon cucumber smoothie.

For more tips on how to live a Nutritious Life, follow Keri on Instagram @nutritiouslifeofficial. For more nutrition advice, sign up for our One Small Thing newsletter!

Stress headache relief: Try this 5-minute stretch routine for neck and shoulders

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that pandemics can be stressful and cause feelings of fear and anxiety. Couple the pandemic with being cooped up at home with family while working and kids home from school, and you may find yourself with a stress headache quite often.

More than nine in 10 adults will deal with headaches at some point in their lives, according to research. While stress can be to blame, studies have said that tense muscles are often a culprit. Things like poor work-from-home posture, crouching on the ground playing with kids and even sleeping in awkward positions can lead to stiff muscles.

Tight muscles and neck pain can trigger headaches, and chronically overworked muscles — like hunched shoulders and tight trapezius muscles, or the muscles below your shoulder blades and the uppermost back muscles that run into your neck — can cause headaches, too.

That’s why for our final installment in this series, we devised this five-minute stretch routine for stress headaches to be done at least once a day to loosen up the muscles around the neck, shoulders and upper back. This neck and shoulder routine also includes specific breathing to release tension headaches.

Subscribe to CNN’s Sleep, But Better Newsletter: Want the best sleep of your life? Sign up for our newsletter series for helpful hints to achieve better sleep.

Chin-tuck stretch

Standing or sitting, place your hands behind your head in a basket grip.

Gently drop your chin toward your chest and hug the elbows around your face.

Use the tension of your hands and arms to weigh your cervical spine down while maintaining a straight thoracic spine. Feel a stretch from the base of your skull down through your cervical vertebrae.

Breathing in and out through the nose, hold this for five deep breaths, and then release slowly.

READ MORE: Try this 5-minute yoga routine for better sleep

Side neck pull

With your head upright, reach your right hand around your head and place it on the left side of your head. Gently pull your head so that your right ear reaches down toward your right shoulder. Feel a stretch in the left side of your neck.

To intensify this stretch, bring your left hand around your back and open up the left shoulder by pressing your left hand onto your back.

Again breathing in and out through the nose, hold this for three deep breaths, and then switch sides.

READ MORE: Improve your balance: A 5-minute home workout for stability and focus

Shoulder boxes

Standing or sitting, shrug your shoulders forward.

Then shrug them up toward your ears.

Next, pull them back. Finally, pull them down. You’ll be making a box with your shoulders in the shape of a square.

Perform this five times. Then reverse the box and perform five times by shrugging your shoulders backward.

READ MORE: This 5-minute midday workout will get you out of your chair

Forward fold

Standing with your feet as wide as your hips, slowly fold forward, hinging at your hips. Allow your arms, head and neck to dangle down.

Reach your arms toward the floor and allow your chin to drop toward your chest. You’ll feel a stretch in the backs of your legs, but if this is too intense or if your low back is stiff, feel free to bend your knees.

Hold this pose for about a minute. You can shake your head gently “yes” and “no.”

To come out of this pose, slowly roll up one vertebra at a time with your head being the last thing to come up.

READ MORE: This 5-minute meditation routine will calm you down

Eagle arms

While standing or sitting, outstretch your arms. Cross your right arm over your left arm, and then bend at the elbows.

Flex your wrists so that you can then press your palms together. Your forearms will be entangled and the shoulders will be forward.

Feel a stretch in between the tops of the shoulder blades like a pull along the upper back. Hold for three breaths, and then release.

Repeat with the left arm crossed over the right arm.

Bird of paradise with modifications

The final expression of this exercise is an advanced yoga pose. However, if you feel uncomfortable at any step along the way, don’t hesitate to hold the pose in the phase that feels best for your body.

To start, step into a Warrior II position. Your left foot will face to the left, and your right foot will be 4 to 5 feet away turned on a slight angle. Line up your left heel with the arch of your right foot. Outstretch the arms and bend the left knee over the left ankle.

Next, place your left forearm onto your left thigh and reach the right arm up toward the ceiling. Open the chest so that the shoulders are stacked on top of each other.

Then place the right hand along the small of your back and open up the right shoulder even more. Reach the elbow back and turn the head to the right slightly to look up toward the ceiling.

From here, wrap the left arm underneath the left thigh. Reach the hands toward each other coming into a bind. Open the chest as much as possible and use the hands to pull on each other to facilitate the opening of the chest and shoulders.

To move further into this pose, step the right foot forward to the center of your body, and slowly lift the left leg up off of the ground. Stand upright while maintaining the bind of the arms around the underside of the left leg.

Lift the left leg up. Finally, extend the left leg straight as you lift the chest and stretch the shoulders.

Wherever you find yourself holding this pose, hold for three slow breaths, and then slowly come out of the pose in the reverse of how you came into it.

If you’ve been following this five-part workout series, you’ve been incorporating each of the routines in your daily life, and if you’re just joining us now, take a look at the past articles and join us in improving quality of life, five minutes at a time:

Part I focused on how to improve sleep with a simple yoga routine in bed before turning off the lights. If you’re feeling off-kilter, try out the balancing exercises that require both physical balance and mental focus in Part II. If you can’t squeeze in a long workout while working from home, try out the midday workout that only requires your desk chair in Part III. The meditation routine in Part IV is all about steadying the mind by utilizing the breath to relax the body and slow down thoughts about the future — like when will the pandemic be over, what will next year look like and so on.

If you’re still feeling tense and even suffering from a tension headache, try out the exercises in this article, Part V.

Each five-minute routine can help you face all the challenges of pandemic life feeling better physically and mentally.

Stephanie Mansour, host of “Step It Up With Steph” on PBS, is a health and wellness journalist and a consultant and weight loss coach for women.

How to Use Acupressure to Get Rid of Migraine Pain | Cove

Sometimes, all the triptans, cold compresses, and coffee in the world don’t seem to be enough to relieve your migraine pain. If that sounds familiar, you might want to learn a bit about acupressure. It’s a natural, relatively safe method of pain relief for you to try.

But first things first: What is it?

You may’ve heard people raving about the benefits of acupuncture treatment for all kinds of health issues, from back pain to chronic migraine headaches, but did you know that acupressure works the same way— without all those scary needles?

Like acupuncture, acupressure is an alternative medicine technique based on the traditional Chinese concept of Qi, life energy that flows through the body in pathways called meridians. This tradition attributes various ailments and illnesses to blockages in the flow of Qi. The purpose of acupuncture and acupressure is to clear those blockages and return your body to its natural state.

But what is acupressure specifically? Well, a lot like a massage. It involves applying pressure to specific parts of the body called acupressure points (or acupoints for short). Which points you focus on depends on what kind of pain you’re trying to treat, which brings us to our next section.

Acupressure is said to be helpful for people dealing with depression, anxiety, nausea, chemotherapy side effects, and many other conditions. The idea is that any physical or emotional pain can be partly relieved by acupressure, so it almost goes without saying that it can be useful for migraineurs — especially when you consider that it’s free, usually safe for most people, and simple enough that you might even be able to perform it on yourself during a migraine.

We should mention that the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of acupressure is pretty much inconclusive. A 2011 review published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management noted that 35 out of 43 studies found that acupressure did alleviate symptoms of various illnesses, but that many of those studies may have been biased. More research will likely be needed before scientists can decide if the benefits of acupressure are the real deal or just another example of the placebo effect.

Scientific studies aside, there’s a lot of anecdotal evidence in favor of acupressure. Since it doesn’t come with any negative side effects, giving it a try is relatively risk-free.

Acupressure is intended to provide immediate relief, so you can try it during a migarine attack. Can’t imagine being able to remember pressure points while in the throes of a migraine? Yeah, we get it. Luckily, someone else can do it for you without reducing its effects if you show them how.

Good news if you want to try this out, it’s very easy. All it involves is getting comfortable, closing your eyes, and massaging the pressure point in a circular motion for 15 to 20 seconds. You should use firm pressure, but don’t press so hard that it’s painful. (That makes it a great option for those never-ending minutes before your acute medication kicks in.)

For migraine relief, the most important pressure point to know to relieve headache pain is the space between the base of your thumb and your index finger. For those who want to be acupressure experts, it’s called LI-4 (a.k.a. Hegu).

Other potentially useful points include your inner wrist, on the same side as your thumb (LU-9), and the back of your jawbone, just below your ear (SJ-17).

If your migraine attacks come with nausea, you could also try the depression between your leg muscles and shin bones, right below your kneecaps (ST-36).

Take a look at our handy reference guide below if you’re having trouble finding them.

Wondering if this is risky to try? Rest assured that acupressure is a relatively safe way to alleviate pain, and it can typically be used many times a day without causing any harm.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still be careful. Don’t put pressure on any areas where you have burns, infections, contagious skin diseases, or active cancer.

Pregnant women should consult with a doctor before using acupressure because some points are believed to induce contractions. People with joint diseases like rheumatoid arthritis should also talk to their healthcare provider before trying acupressure.

To wrap all this up, acupressure is a natural, easy, and relatively safe method for pain relief, but it shouldn’t be your primary treatment for any serious conditions or illnesses, including migraine. Many sufferers control migraines by combining alternative treatments and prescription medication.

The information provided in this article is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not rely upon the content provided in this article for specific medical advice. If you have any questions or concerns, please talk to your doctor.

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash.

About headaches | “Four-leaf clover”

According to statistics, 90% of people experience a headache at least once during the year, and approximately 1% of patients admitted to the intensive care unit, the headache is the cause of any disease. In more than 90% of cases, patients are diagnosed with primary headaches, the most common form is episodic tension headache. It was also found that women are 3 times more likely to suffer from migraines than men.In addition, there is a correlation between the prevalence of migraine cases among residents of certain parts of the world. In general, from 12 to 18% of the world’s population are affected by migraine attacks. Cluster headache, in turn, occurs in less than 0.5% of people. Men are 5-8 times more prone to cluster headaches than women.

Headache is not a painful sensation of the brain as such, since it lacks pain receptors. A person feels a headache emanating from several areas of the head and neck, in which nociceptors are located (extracranial arteries, veins, cranial and spinal nerves, muscles of the neck and head, lining of the brain).

In most cases, headache appears due to tension or irritation of pain receptors located in the membranes of the brain or blood vessels. Nociceptors can be activated not only by a head injury or tumor, but headache can also be the result of stress, dilated blood vessels, and muscle tension. Having received an exciting stimulus, the nociceptor sends a signal through the nerve fiber to the nerve cells of the brain, reporting pain in a specific part of the body.

There are more than 200 forms of headaches , the causes of which are varied – from the most innocuous to life-threatening. The description of pain symptoms and the results of a neurological examination make it possible to diagnose the cause of the headache and prescribe appropriate treatment, or indicate the need for additional examinations.
There are 5 main categories of headaches.

Primary headaches include pain not associated with organic or structural disease.According to this classification, headaches are divided into vascular, myogenic, cervicogenic, pain associated with mechanical action on receptors, and pain associated with infectious diseases. Primary headaches are more difficult to diagnose than secondary headaches. The pathophysiological processes of migraine, cluster headache and tension headache remain not fully understood, as a result of which new theories constantly appear, the authors of which try to explain the processes occurring in the brain of patients suffering from these forms of cephalalgia.

Most scientists adhere to the neurovascular theory of primary headaches. According to this theory, migraine occurs as a result of a series of complex changes in blood vessels and nerves. Other studies confirm that people with migraines without headaches have an increased sensitivity of the nerve endings of the cerebral cortex, especially in the occipital region. People with a form of migraine without headache usually have a family history of the disease.Also, a similar form of migraine occurs in women during the period of hormonal changes, women taking birth control pills or undergoing hormone replacement therapy.

Diagnosing the cause of headaches is not easy. In some cases, long-term observation of the patient is required using all clinical and paraclinical studies. For the timely detection of stagnant processes on the optic nerve head, it is necessary to study the fundus and control blood pressure measurements.To exclude volumetric processes, it is necessary to conduct electroencephalography, which can reveal a focus of pathological activity or general cerebral changes in electrical activity, which makes it possible to exclude the neurotic nature of cephalgia (headache) In all cases of intense or prolonged headaches, a neurologist’s examination, magnetic resonance imaging is indicated.

For recurring headaches, it is recommended to keep a diary to record the nature of the pain, accompanying symptoms, factors that enhance and stimulate the appearance of the headache.Thus, important specific causes of headache can be identified: taking medications, menstrual cycle, diet.
There are two main treatments for chronic headaches: prophylactic treatment and abortive treatment for acute headache attacks. Abortive treatment helps to quickly relieve the symptoms of a sudden attack, while the goal of preventive treatment is to control the attacks of chronic headaches. For this reason, in most cases, abortive drugs are used to successfully treat migraines, while preventive drugs are more often prescribed for patients with chronic headaches.

The main goal of preventive treatment is to reduce the frequency, severity and duration of headaches. This method of treatment is based on the daily intake of medications for three, and in some cases, six months. In most cases, the patient is initially prescribed preventive medicines in small doses, which are gradually increased until a prolonged therapeutic effect occurs.
Adequate treatment can only be carried out after the cause of the problem has been identified.It must be remembered that the prescription of drugs for headaches must be trusted only by the attending physician. Uncontrolled self-administration of analgesics can cause medicinal headaches, which will lead to a vicious circle in an attempt to relieve the disease.

We recommend specialists: Olga Vladimirovna Andreyanova, Irina Ovsyannikova, Albina Muratovna Tlyunyaeva.

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90,000 How to quickly relieve a headache without medication? What relieves a headache? How to get rid of a headache without pills and medicines? What to do if a head hurts without pills

There is no person in the world who does not face a headache.Someone meets with this disease only occasionally, once every 2-3 months. Others do it almost every day. For them, the question of what to do with a headache is paramount. In the first-aid kit of such people, you can always find an anesthetic medicine for every taste. A person is forced to accept them constantly, without trying to understand the reason. Its sole purpose is to get rid of the headache.

However, over time, the effectiveness of medication becomes less and less. In this case, side symptoms appear.But taking medications is not necessary, you can try to get rid of the headache without pills.

Reasons

Before treating a headache, it is worth determining its nature and causes. This is a very important stage, regardless of which method is chosen for treatment.

There are many ways to get rid of a headache quickly without the use of drugs. But in order to choose the optimal method, the cause of the pain should be determined.In a modern person, headache can occur without organic pathology – due to stress, sleep disturbances, irregular working hours, overtime, with hyperthermia or sunstroke.

Also, headaches can be concomitant with other pathologies – these are diseases of the cardiovascular, nervous system.

If the headache bothers you more often than once a week, you need to see a neurologist and complete a full course of examination. This can be a worrying symptom of a serious medical condition.

Contraindications

How to get rid of a headache at home? First of all, it should be noted that not everyone should apply alternative medicine methods. Alternative practices are contraindicated in the following cases:

1. Poisoning with neurotoxins.
2. High temperature of unexplained etiology.
3. Injuries to the head and neck.
4. Allergic history.

In addition, pregnant women should be especially careful about non-traditional methods of treatment in 2-3 trimesters.

Methods for reducing headache

1. Water. It is worth recalling that in the absence of organic matter, pain, including headache, is a peculiar way of the body to ask for help. Headache can be a sign of dehydration. To cope with symptoms, drink 1-2 glasses of plain clean water, and then take a sip or two every half hour. The same should be done in stuffy rooms or just in the hot season as a preventive measure.

The norm of water for an adult weighing 70 -75 kg is 2.5-3 liters per day.It is necessary to drink clean regular non-carbonated water, avoid chemical cocktails with high levels of carbohydrates.

1. Hot water. One of the easiest methods to relieve headaches is to shower at a comfortable body temperature. The water should not be too hot, otherwise it may have the opposite effect. Direct jets of water to the neck area and back – warm water will relieve muscle tension, weaken vasospasm, and improve blood circulation. The result is that the headache will go away.Better yet, just wash your hair while massaging the hair roots well.
2. Hot sweet tea. Severe headache can be caused by hunger with strict diets. Make yourself a tea with a few teaspoons of sugar. This will help to quickly saturate the body with glucose, increase tone and relieve headaches.

1. Lemon. Lemon itself is an excellent antiseptic and analgesic. Lemon peel applied to the temples and forehead will help quickly relieve headaches
   .Lemon juice also has a pronounced analgesic effect, add a few drops to a glass of water and drink slowly.
2. Ginger is an excellent anti-inflammatory and diuretic. At the first signs of pain, make a cup of ginger tea. It can also be used for prophylaxis. This will help not only get rid of the headache, but also strengthen the immune system better than many drugs.
3. Peppermint is an excellent sedative to help relieve headaches. Pour 200 ml of boiling water over a tablespoon of dry mint and let it brew for 10-15 minutes, strain the broth.The medicine is ready for use.
4. Relaxation. A common cause of headaches is stress. Try to relax. Listen to pleasant soothing music, think about something pleasant, dream, switch. If this is your nature, meditation will also help.
5. Comb. Remove elastic bands, hairpins, headbands from your hair, comb your hair in different directions. A large wide brush made of natural materials (wood, natural bristles) is well suited for this. When combing your hair, lightly press on the roots with your teeth, make semicircular movements.Bend over, tilt your head down and comb your hair well. This will help improve circulation, feel warmth, and relieve the pain.
6. Sleep and rest. If you can lie down, that’s great. Choose a position that is comfortable for yourself, close your eyes, you may be able to fall asleep. In a dream, the body rests, relaxes. Even a short nap brings significant relief
7. Massage. Practitioners of oriental medicine are well aware of the answer to the question of what to do with a headache.Even in ancient times, people noticed that exposure to certain points and areas of the human body can bring relief or cause significant harm.
   …

Massage perfectly relieves fatigue, relaxes and helps to get rid of headaches. You can use the services of a qualified massage therapist, or you can master simple massage movements yourself and choose a suitable complex.

When carrying out self-massage, it is worth remembering a few basic rules:

• during self-massage, pain or discomfort should not be felt;
• movements should be light, smooth;
• after the massage, it is not recommended to immediately return to active actions, you need to rest a little, and if possible, lie down.

Any massage is contraindicated for pregnant women. During the growth of the fetus, the bones of the skeleton are displaced and, as a result, the active points too. The body of a pregnant woman is unpredictable. Everything needs to be done only under the strict supervision of a specialist, otherwise, instead of benefit, you can harm the woman and the unborn child.

Simple self-massage techniques

Before the session, it is necessary to rub your hands together in order for them to warm up.

Look at your hands, lower them with your palms down and extend your thumb as far as possible.A kind of triangle has formed between the thumb and forefinger, determine its center and massage this point first on one hand, then on the other. Movements should be light, increase the pressure as the procedure progresses. For each hand, 1-2 minutes is enough.

Head massage

Lie down, throw your head back and rub your forehead. Pat your neck, first from top to bottom and then vice versa.

1. Massage the upper part of the head. The movements are reminiscent of dry hair washing. Do not press too hard, you should feel a pleasant warmth when moving
   .This indicates that the blood flow has become more active and the blood circulates freely through the vessels. The duration of exposure is 5-7 minutes.
2. Place the tips of four fingers on the temples in symmetrical areas. Rub the skin in a circular motion, then begin to move, as it were, in a spiral from the center to the eyes. Continue for 3-5 minutes.
3. Fingers in the same position on the temples, with the same light movements we move along the auricle along the border of the hair to the back of the head. Take multiple sets.
4. Massage your earlobes with your thumb and forefinger. The movements are smooth, light, the force of pressure increases with the procedure. Place the thumbs behind the ears in symmetrical areas, spread the fingers over the entire head. With light circular motions, moving your fingers every 15-20 seconds. walk all over your head, massage both halves at the same time.

1. Bend your fingers and spread them apart like a fan. Press firmly but smoothly on the scalp, constantly changing the position of your fingers.The pressure should be strong enough, but not painful. Massage the occipital protuberances well. In the first seconds, discomfort or even pain will be felt, which indicates excessive tension in the neck muscles. The occipital protuberances are the place of their attachment.
2. There are 2 muscles located on the sides of the spine, the spasm of which often leads to headaches. Massage them gently and lightly from the bottom up. Be very careful, because this is the collar area, and it is rich in nerves and plexuses.
3. Squeeze the head first in the anteroposterior direction, and then in the lateral direction. To do this, we place one hand on the forehead, and the other on the back of the head and squeeze the head. After the hands are relaxed, warmth is felt and the pain is significantly reduced for a few seconds. Move your hands behind your ears, apply some pressure. Repeat exercise 3-5 in each direction.

Finish by placing your hands on your head and stroking yourself, while pulling your hair a little.
. After self-massage, rest for 5-10 minutes, think about something pleasant, then get to work.

What else can help?

1. Compress is another aid in the fight against pain. This is an old but very powerful method.

The peculiarity of the application lies in the temperature of the compress. For a throbbing headache, it is better to use a cold compress; for a pressure headache, a warm one.

1. Essential oils. They have long been accepted to act on the olfactory receptors in order to cause the body to react to an irritant.

Centuries of experience show that essential oils of almond, eucalyptus, peppermint, lavender perfectly relieve headaches, normalize blood pressure, and improve sleep.The oil can be applied to the skin or inhaled as a vapor. Essential oils are a great addition to massage.

1. Cinnamon. This spice is found in almost every kitchen.

In case of severe headache, rub a cinnamon stick, add a little boiling water, stir until the consistency of sour cream. Apply the resulting mixture to your forehead and temples, leave for 10-15 minutes, then rinse with warm water. The pain will certainly recede.

1. Almonds are a natural pain reliever.

In addition, it contains a complex of elements useful for the whole organism.You just need to eat a few nuts and you will feel a lot of relief.

1. Camphor oil is a good treatment for those who often suffer from headaches.

Mix ammonia and camphor oil in a 1: 1 ratio. Inhale the vapors of this mixture at the first sign of pain. Also, the jar can be left open at the workplace as a preventive measure. A significant drawback is the specific smell.

1. Wine of Hippocrates.

In 0.5 liters of dessert wine, add 1 finely chopped or grated lemon and 1 tsp.l. honey. With a headache, it is enough to take 1-2 tbsp. funds. The body will quickly become saturated with glucose, and wine will help eliminate vasospasm.

1. Apple.

To feel its miraculous power of this fruit, the slices need to be slightly salted and washed down with warm water. People who often use this method also recommend walking or doing any other vigorous activity after taking it for 5 minutes, then you should rest.

Methods of prevention

In case the question of how to relieve a headache arises regularly, and you do not want to take medicine or do not have such an opportunity, the following recipes are suitable:

• regularly on an empty stomach, drink a glass of warm water with 1 tsp.l. honey and 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar;
• chokeberry juice is also a good prophylactic agent. Take 2 tablespoons. 15-20 minutes before meals. This will help get rid of headaches and strengthen the immune system.

Many people are familiar with the headache. It can be of different intensity, different reasons lead to its appearance. Frequent headaches cannot be ignored. To find out the reason for their appearance and treatment, you should definitely consult a doctor.

But there are situations when a head hurts and you need to relieve the pain, but there are no medications at hand.I want to tell you how you can try to cope with any headache with the help of available tools. All these methods are tested by traditional medicine, are easy to perform, and the means necessary for their implementation can always be found in every home.

It seems strange to many, but often headaches because the body simply does not have enough fluid. For a headache, simply drink one glass of hot water (this may be unsweetened tea) and the headache will soon subside. Remember that you need to drink 1.5-2 liters of water during the day.

Garlic will help to get rid of headaches. As soon as your head hurts, try eating a couple of cloves of garlic.

Fresh cabbage is a good remedy for headaches. For treatment, you need to take two large cabbage leaves and attach to the forehead. With cabbage leaves, you need to lie down a little and the pain will recede.

Time-tested headache reliever – dill oil. Dill oil is applied to the temples and forehead. The headache disappears within half an hour.

If headache is your frequent visitor, potato juice may help. Juice is squeezed out of the peeled tubers and two tablespoons are taken before meals. The course of therapy with freshly squeezed potato juice is up to one month.

Lemon perfectly helps with headaches. For the treatment of headaches, the lemon is peeled. The resulting fresh lemon peel is applied with the inside to the temples for a while until the headache passes. Usually 20-30 minutes is sufficient.

Juice is squeezed out of red beetroot.The resulting juice is moistened with cotton swabs, which are placed in the ears for 20-30 minutes.

Cut a small onion in half. The halves of the onion should be applied to the temples and lie down for 15-20 minutes.

With frequent headaches, plantain infusion helps. Pour a tablespoon of finely chopped plantain leaves with one glass of boiling water and leave to infuse for 10-15 minutes. The resulting infusion should be taken half a glass twice a day.

It should also be noted that it is impossible to endure when the headache itself will not go away.If your head hurts all the time and no methods help to get rid of the pain, it is imperative to consult a doctor and undergo the necessary examinations. The headache may be due to a certain medical condition. The sooner the cause of the headache is diagnosed, the more effective the treatment. Be aware that headaches can lead to complications that are more difficult to deal with.

Try to be less nervous, walk more often in the fresh air, experience positive emotions.It has been proven that in people experiencing joy, pleasure, happiness, the pain threshold rises, and accordingly they do not react so sharply to pain. Do not forget about a good night’s sleep, alternation of work and rest, change of physical and mental stress. Follow these simple tips and you will soon forget how your head hurts.

What to do if you have a headache? Today, this issue worries a huge number of people, since headache causes inconvenience to almost everyone, the only difference is in the frequency of pain return.Very often women suffer from migraines and other types of pain, especially those who have given birth more than once.

Such a syndrome may indicate completely different processes when comparing the pain of a child and an adult. Pain is just a consequence of some negative processes occurring in the body, therefore, with the regular repetition of the same pain symptom, the visit to the doctor cannot be postponed.

There is no need to describe in detail the sensations that a headache brings with it, because every person has felt it at least once in his life.Headache is the most popular type of pain syndrome. The medical definition is as follows: headache is associated with unpleasant painful sensations in the space of the skull, which often indicate the presence of pathological processes, diseases.

What pathological processes can the pain syndrome signal? There are many possible reasons. You should start with anatomy.

If the head hurts, then something happens to the lining of the brain, the vessels that are located in it, the bones of the skull or the soft integument that forms the brain.

The reason may be hidden not only in structural changes, processes of violation of the threshold of sensitivity, homeostasis are often observed. The head also hurts when the body temperature rises or falls to pathological boundaries, the head overheats or overcooles, and general intoxication of the body occurs, for example, under alcoholic or toxicological effects.

Anatomically, the reason for a wide range of types and subspecies of headaches is that the nerve endings in the structure of the brain are unevenly located and distributed.This explains the appearance of local or diffuse pain symptoms.

Why is it important to know about this? How does this relate to those patients who do not know what to do if they have a headache? At the beginning of the pathological process, if it is still present and develops in the human body, all of the above is important for the correct diagnosis of changes in the brain. It must be remembered that the nature and intensity of the pain symptom is often disproportionate to the same parameters of the pathological process.

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What else should you tell your doctor if you have a headache? About all the symptoms that occur in each individual case. For example, the head begins to ache in one condition or another, it cracks or there are cases of aching pain, the syndrome torments at different times of the day, returns seasonally, its appearance was noted earlier, in childhood or adolescence, or it arises in connection with atmospheric changes.

Before determining what to do with a headache in each particular case, you should calculate what kind of headache you are talking about.As shown above, such pain is characterized by its clinical diversity, and it can be caused by a whole range of structural and non-structural changes in the brain, spaces and tissues adjacent to it.

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In general, headache can be classified as follows:

• migraine – a pathological process in the vessels and cardiovascular systems;
• pain associated with organic disorders of the brain and its surrounding membranes;
• pain associated with pathological processes, various inflammations of the ears, teeth, eyes, nasopharynx;
• psychogenic pain;
• pain that occurs as a result of a disease of the internal organs, but not the brain;
• pain resulting from the spread of various infections and viruses in the body;
• Pain that occurs as a result of head trauma.

Migraine is characterized by a pain syndrome that recurs regularly and returns, in this case, a prolonged painful spasm is most often felt in one side of the head, as well as a feeling of heaviness. It is a form of a disorder of the cardiovascular system. But migraine is not always a form of cardiovascular disorder. Sometimes the patients had a headache, due to a decrease in vascular tone, fragility and thinness of their walls. Migraine is something that accompanies many people at different periods of their lives.This is a problem that can be resolved, but not without the help of medical intervention.

Now about more severe cases. For example, a patient has a headache. Today she has not stopped hurting. Yesterday, the day before yesterday, and a week ago, painkillers do not help, and he feels that the pain is constantly increasing. An alarming signal, but you should not panic, as well as postpone a visit to the doctor. In some cases, severe and prolonged pain indicates the presence of a tumor, abscesses, hematoma, the development of meningitis and encephalitis.Such serious illnesses are usually accompanied by severe dizziness, loss of vision, partial or complete loss of memory, loss of consciousness.

Prevention and Treatment

Migraine and more serious cases of diseases associated with the brain were mentioned as examples so that the danger could be clearly represented. Sometimes big troubles can be hidden behind such symptoms. Therefore, a person is especially worried about constant pain.

So, my head hurts all the time: what to do? Rule # 1: don’t panic, take action.As you can see, treatment follows from the nature of the disease, its severity. And the pain symptom is just a consequence of complex processes.

What to do in case of a headache, which occurs extremely rarely, does not disturb too much, due to its mild severity? Analgesics are commonly used to relieve pain, they are affordable and widely available for sale and use. In addition to Analgin, the most popular drug, you can take Paracetamol, Acetylsalicylic acid, Citramon or Ibuprofen.It is worth noting that doctors and pharmacists are fiercely debating around these drugs: can they be used? However, nothing better than this list has been invented. If headaches torment a child, you need to remember that acetylsalicylic acid is contraindicated for him, as this can lead to the development of hepatocerebral syndrome.

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What should be done to prevent the onset and development of this excruciating problem? To begin an adequate self-diagnosis, you must record your observations about the frequency and nature of pain.If they do not stop, it will help the doctor deal with the existing head problem. The observation data can include information about whether the atmospheric changes outside the window changed, whether there were serious physical and emotional stress, stress. Girls and women should include menstruation data on this list.

What will help prevent the development of pain? Normal work and rest, healthy sleep, reducing stress to a minimum, quitting smoking and alcohol abuse, regular, without excessive zeal, sports.Don’t be nervous about trifles!

Our expert – Phytotherapist Svetlana Olkhovskaya
.

Headache is a serious symptom, so it is better not to take this phenomenon lightly and undergo a comprehensive examination by a therapist and neurologist. Probably, you will need to check the condition of the cervical spine, and maybe the blood vessels of the brain. But if specialists do not find any neurological pathologies in you, you can try to cope with the trouble on your own.

Banned

But first, about what not to do if you suddenly have a headache:

● Take pills. This is not the best solution, especially if they are overused. The fact is that most analgesics and many vasodilators have an echo effect, that is, over time, they themselves begin to provoke an attack of pain.

● Drink alcohol. It dilates blood vessels and at first, indeed, it becomes easier, but then the condition worsens.

● Drink coffee. If you have high blood pressure or are prone to atherosclerosis, even one cup of coffee can be harmful. However, for hypotonic people, on the contrary, a couple of sips of coffee will be salvation. For those who constantly take horse doses of this drink, an extra dose will not help, but will only make it worse.

● Smoking. Nicotine causes a sharp spasm of blood vessels, from which the pain will become even more intense.

● Pamper yourself with delicacies. It is known that the so-called “gourmet migraine” can be provoked by hard cheese, legumes, chocolate, nuts, cocoa, citrus fruits, spices, red and sparkling wines, crabs, smoked meats.

It’s time to get hold of your head!

And now what should be done to cope with an attack on your own.

1.
The easiest way is to do nothing, just lie down, close your eyes and relax in complete silence, wait 10-15 minutes until it passes by itself. In most cases, the method works.

2.
Massage the head with light stroking movements from the forehead to the back of the head. Then walk from the crown of the head down to the ears and from the crown to the back of the head, smoothly going down to the neck.You also need to remember to massage your neck.

3.
Ventilate the room well or, if time and weather permitting, go for a walk in the fresh air.

4.
Darken the room and humidify the air using appliances or simply by hanging wet rags on the battery.

5.
Take a warm (but not hot) bath, adding a few drops of essential oils to the water: lavender, lemon, peppermint, marjoram. Scented foam and sea salt are welcome! Or, taking a hot shower can help ease cramping headaches caused by muscle spasms in the back of your neck and head.You can take mustard foot baths – they lower the blood pressure in the brain.

6.
Apply cold compresses – they constrict the blood vessels in the painful area and reduce the painful pulsation. A bag of ice cubes wrapped in a towel should be applied to the forehead, temples or the back of the head for about 10-15 minutes.

7.
Spread over the temples or the back of the head with menthol ointment (ordinary Vietnamese balm will do) or essential oil (citrus or rosemary).

8.
Drink a glass of still water. Often, spasms arise from dehydration, which can occur not only on a hot day, but also, for example, after training in the gym.

9.
Eat something lukewarm: soup, porridge. Irregular food intake often leads to headaches. This is likely due to fluctuations in blood glucose levels.

10.
Listen to calm, pleasant music or watch an interesting humorous program.Laughter not only tones up blood vessels, but also promotes the production of pleasure hormones, endorphins, which have an analgesic effect.

11.
If your head hurts quite often, and examinations do not find any neurological disorders in you, try constantly wearing a thread of natural yellow amber around your neck. It is believed to banish migraines.

Medicines from the refrigerator

Traditional medicine knows many ways to help a sick head. Some recipes contain quite exotic ingredients, such as bear fat.Still, most of the recommendations are quite feasible.

Since ancient times, our savvy ancestors have used various natural substances to treat headaches. Moreover, most of them were edible: cabbage leaf, apple cider vinegar, honey, potatoes and other foods. Well, how are we worse? We open the refrigerator and see what we have there from tasty can become also healing?

1.
Take a cabbage leaf, briefly dip it in boiling water, cool it and apply it to your forehead, temple or back of your head – where it hurts.You can also boil jacket potatoes and apply mashed, warm potatoes in the skin to your forehead and temples. And another excellent remedy is lemon peel, peeled from white pulp.

2.
Drink freshly brewed black or green tea with a few mint leaves and a generous amount of sugar, or even better honey. Honey contains potassium and magnesium, which relax the arteries, allowing it to improve blood flow to the brain. These elements are also rich in apple cider vinegar. Dissolve a teaspoon of vinegar in a glass of boiled water and drink – it should feel better.

3.
Look into the kitchen and look for rosemary among the spices. This herb is good not only as a supplement to fish or meat, but also as a cure for migraines. It prevents some of the stress-related headaches. Rosemary helps to resist spasms of blood vessels. The best way to use it is to brew it like tea. Pour one teaspoon of dry rosemary leaves with a glass of boiling water, cover, let it brew for 10 minutes, strain and drink.

4. Many medicinal herbs are effective in relieving headaches. For example, tea made from lavender leaves and flowers is useful for this scourge. Common chamomile has excellent analgesic properties. You can also make a mixture of equal amounts of peppermint, oregano, and fireweed. At 1 st. a spoonful of the mixture – half a liter of boiling water. Insist, wrapped for 30 minutes, drain. Take 0.5-1 glass. But it is dangerous for pregnant women to take herbs.

5.
With frequent migraines, it is necessary to change the diet and lean on foods rich in vitamin B2 (riboflavin).

Most often, the brain cells in people who suffer from headaches receive an insufficient amount of the necessary components, and therefore energy. Therefore, you need to periodically “feed” your brain cells with vitamin B2. It is found in liver, yeast, rose hips, eggs, milk, pulses, spinach, apricots, dark green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, and kale. A good “cure” for migraines is a fresh apple.

Although the main causes of headaches are poor diet, stress and fatigue, dental problems can also be the cause of headaches.At the heart of headaches are malocclusion and an incomplete set of teeth. In the event that the headache is localized in the area of ​​the eyeballs, you notice pain in the chewing muscles, grit your teeth, feel clicks in the jaw joints, suffer from pain or ringing in the ears, pain in the neck or lower back, feel dizzy, consult a dentist …

Important

Headache is not a trifle, Dutch doctors warn. They argue that it can be a sign of focal brain lesions that can be detected with careful examination.Having checked about 300 people who complained of headaches, as well as 140 people from the comparison group, on a magnetic resonance imaging scanner, the scientists identified 60 foci of cerebral infarction in 31 participants in the experiment who complained of migraines. Moreover, in patients with headache, heart attacks were detected seven times more often.

Headaches are often caused by nervous exhaustion. People experience stress, do not follow the correct diet, catch colds, drink a lot of alcohol, and often have problems with blood pressure.In such situations, people use pain relievers, complex treatment is prescribed for hypertension.

Experts classify headaches into several types:

• Migraine.
• Temporal arthritis.
• Neoplasms.
• Tension symptoms.
• Clustered.
• Hemorrhage inside the skull.

Tension pain occurs due to stress and injury. Compressive pains are felt in the region of the crown. Such spasms are eliminated within an hour after the use of analgin.

Migraine is characterized by localization of symptoms in one part of the head. This chronic type of symptoms does not occur without nausea and dizziness, and sensitivity to bright light also appears. Patients can stay in this state for up to 4 hours. No effect can be obtained from self-treatment. You can eliminate the symptoms with the use of medicines and herbal tinctures.

Cluster pain occurs in most cases in men.Symptoms of these disorders are similar to functional disorders during a cold. there are pulsating sensations located in a specific part of the head, redness of the eyes and nasal congestion are observed. Symptoms appear intermittently and can last up to 20 minutes. The sources of these symptoms have not been identified.

Intensely worsening headache, sleep problems, depression are characteristic of the temporal arteritis. Such simetomatics often affects elderly patients and is caused by misuse of drugs.The problem can arise in the deterioration of vision. Steroid medications are used as medical procedures. When a hemorrhage occurs inside the skull, there are increasing painful symptoms:

• Nausea.
• Speech problems.
• Runny nose.

The cause of these conditions may be trauma to the blood vessels of the head. If they occur, you need to contact a specialist in the near future for qualified help.

Tumors in the head may be accompanied by painful sensations.When a symptom appears, it can be concluded that the neoplasm is expanding. It is unacceptable to conduct therapy on your own in such situations. Functional disorders are caused by a complex oncological process and cannot be eliminated at home.

Causes of headache

Headache is manifested as a result of multiple causes. Not every time doctors can determine the real provoking factor. Attacks occur after irritation of nerve fibers in the vessels and tissues of the brain.Symptoms can vary in intensity, location, and other signs. With vascular diseases, pulsating pain occurs, the sensations are aggravated against the background of overwork, the action of sharp irritating factors.

Alcohol and food poisoning also provoke severe pain. In women, the menstrual cycle and menopause can have a strong effect on headache.

People often complain of splitting pains.

Contraindications to treatment without medication, precautions and nuances

Having information on how to remove a headache without pills, you should not lose common sense.If, after applying treatment without medication, the headache remains as frequent and intense as before, it is better to see a doctor for diagnosis. In general, it is always better to play it safe than to miss something important. If the headache is accompanied by other symptoms, any exercise is contraindicated, they can only be harmful.

With care it is worth using folk remedies for pain, especially it is worth limiting the use of herbal decoctions for pregnant women.Individual intolerance to certain herbs is possible, which will result in an allergic reaction. And there are phytocomponents that are even capable of provoking a miscarriage. You should be careful with nursing mothers. Not everything that passes into breast milk is equally beneficial for the newborn.

Due to their age, they cannot accurately state their complaints. It may turn out that not only the head hurts, and that behind the voiced complaints there is something serious and not expressed.

Traditional medicine

Buy medicinal herbs in advance so as not to run to the store with a bout of pain.If you want to know how to deal with headaches without pills, check out a few time-tested and people-tested recipes.

1. Grind the marin root, pour a teaspoon of it with a glass of boiling water, leave for an hour, strain and drink a soothing broth three times a day before eating a tablespoon.
2. Pour a spoonful of St. John’s wort with a glass of boiling water, boil for a quarter of an hour and drink ¼ cup three times a day to relieve pain.
3. Pour a tablespoon of powdered leaves and flower tops of oregano with two glasses of boiled water, leave for about 30 minutes and take half a glass three times a day to relieve pain.
4. For a whole month, drink 50 ml of chokeberry juice three times a day in order to cure a headache.
5. Grind the white willow bark, pour a teaspoon of it with cold water and leave for 8 hours. The daily dose is obtained. It is believed that such an infusion replaces aspirin and guarantees relief from unpleasant symptoms.

How to quickly get rid of a headache at home or in the office?

1. Maintain your posture. Tilt your head to your chest and hold for 20 seconds.After a 30 second break, repeat. And so 12-15 times.
2. Wrap your hands around the back of your head, looking up. As you inhale, try to tilt your head back, while holding it with your hands. As you exhale, look down and tilt to your chest as much as possible to stretch your neck muscles. Repeat 5 times.
3. Put one hand around your head on one side – where it hurts more. Press firmly with your palm and make a turn to the “healthy” side, and support your chin with your free hand. Inhaling deeply for about 10 seconds and looking down, press your chin against your lower palm.As you exhale, relax and look up. Repeat 5 times.

Self-massage

Are there any other ways to relieve headaches without medication? Yes. If the cause of the pain is tension (for example, due to poor posture or depression), massage your face and scalp can help.

1. First of all, go over the entire head with a good comb to calm the blood vessels.
2. Place your fingers on your temples, apply pressure and start moving in a circle from your temple to the center of your forehead.
3. Massage your shoulders and the back of your neck. Sit comfortably, tilt your head back slightly, place your palms on your shoulders, pointing your fingers towards the shoulder blades. Squeeze your fingers, applying firm pressure to the shoulder muscles.
4. If you suffer from migraines or pain in the sinuses, you can gently massage the bridge of the nose.
5. Scalp massage is best done under the shower, applying shampoo to the hair. If there is no opportunity and strength, you can replace the water and shampoo with argan or coconut oil – at the same time it will benefit your hair.
6. If you have a headache, acupressure sometimes helps. Press on the point above the bridge of the nose on the brow line. Then simultaneously on the dimples where the eyebrows end. After that, click on the point where the hair growth makes an easy corner.

Physiotherapy

Compared to all of the above, physiotherapy has undeniable advantages. By awakening the internal reserves of the body, physical therapy works to strengthen the overall immune system and the ability of the human body to heal naturally.While highly effective, it remains completely safe. Without taking medications, only with the help of an active action on the body, it is possible to minimize the unpleasant course of the disease.

There are many areas of physiotherapy, we will list the main ones.

1. Cryotherapy.

The body is exposed to liquid nitrogen in order to activate all regulatory systems.

1. Laser therapy.

1. Magnetic field therapy.

All systems are affected at once. A good effect is seen in both acute and chronic diseases.

1. Ultraviolet blood irradiation.

The antioxidant system of the blood is activated, the resorption of blood clots is accelerated, hemoglobin rises.

1. Hirudotherapy.

1. Most often, dehydration provokes headache, so drink plenty of fluids. Whenever you feel unwell, drink a large glass of water, and then continue drinking in small portions throughout the day.Get into the habit of drinking water.
2. Be careful with caffeinated beverages. With the formed dependence due to the regular intake of coffee or energy drinks, headaches may occur due to vasoconstriction when you decide to reduce the amount of drinks consumed. If you are already drinking a lot of coffee, start reducing this amount gradually. For those with frequent headaches, it is better to forget about caffeinated drinks altogether. Perhaps, when you get rid of caffeine addiction, the question of how to relieve pain will not even be relevant.
3. If you are at home, there is a way how to quickly and easily get rid of a tormenting headache completely without pills. To ease the pain, take time to retire to a calm, well-ventilated and quiet place where you can draw the curtains and lie down comfortably.

Watch the video for helpful tips on this topic

How to get rid of a headache

When choosing how to treat a headache, you should take into account the causes of its occurrence, which can be:

1. Colds or infectious diseases.
2. Overstrain (mental, physical).
3. Stuffiness, strong odors.
4. Poisoning.
5. Osteochondrosis, other pathologies of the spine.
6. Hyper- or hypotension.

Note that the medicine for the head has a number of contraindications and restrictions on age (children, the elderly), acute and chronic concomitant diseases (kidney, liver, heart, etc.), special conditions of the body (bearing a child, lactation). Let’s take a closer look at how to relieve headaches during pregnancy and breastfeeding, or in a child.

During pregnancy

In addition to possible factors of head pain during gestation, changes in blood circulation and hormonal levels in the mother are added. Any remedy for headaches during pregnancy is a potential “provocateur” of the development of fetal pathologies, a deterioration in the general condition of a woman and the development of internal diseases in her, therefore, medications should be taken only after medical advice.

It is strictly forbidden to take drugs based on narcotic substances, for example, tryptamine (“Zapmigren”, “Amigren”, “Antimigren”), drugs that can provoke bleeding (especially in the first trimester), delayed child development: “Aspirin” , Citramon, Propranolol, Ergotamine, Nurofen.Conditionally approved drugs include Panadol, No-shpa, Paracetamol.

You should take pills only in extreme cases, but it is better to use safe proven means:

• rub your feet and whiskey with a “Star”;
• take a walk;
• put a wet cold towel on your head;
• Drink herbal tea or lemon juice for migraines
  …

When breastfeeding

It is advisable for a nursing woman to refrain from taking any medications, and relieve pain in the head in safe ways:

• sweet hot tea;
• by airing the room;
• for a walk;
• head massage;
• warm shower;
• cold compress;
• aromatherapy, etc.

If it is not possible to relieve the headache with one of the safe means, it is allowed to take the medicine, but it is necessary to choose it, focusing on the contraindications specified in the instructions. The only medicine that has no contraindications is Paracetamol. Conditionally safe pills are considered: “Citramon”, “Ibuprofen”, “Naproxen”, “Ketoprofen”, but “Analgin” and all medications containing this component are contraindicated for a nursing woman.

For a child

Pills from the head of a child are prescribed only by a doctor, and infants are not given medicine in this form at all (only suppositories or liquid preparations!).To quickly eliminate high fever and headache, an injection of a triad is given. Many popular products have age restrictions, for example, “Aspirin” – for children over 12 years old, “Piracetam” – over a year old. Other drugs (“Analgin”) are given on the basis of body weight. A relatively safe medicine is Panadol or its analogue Nurofen.

The only medicine that has no contraindications for children remains “Paracetamol”: children under three years of age rectally or in syrup, older – in tablets.It is allowed to give the drug only for obvious or one-time causes of headache: acute respiratory infections, sinusitis, overwork at school. If a child complains of constant malaise and pain in the head, then a neurologist should be consulted.

Herbal medicine

A predisposition to cephalalgia requires the use of special medicinal drinks. They help eliminate unpleasant symptoms and their causes. Healthy drinks stabilize the condition of muscle tissue and blood vessels, normalize the nervous system, and reduce inflammation.

The following remedies are suitable for eliminating headaches without pills:

• Oregano tea. 1 tbsp. lies. The dried plant is steamed with 2 tbsp. boiling water, infused for half an hour. The composition is filtered, 200 ml per day is used.
• Raspberry tincture. Berries need to be poured with red wine. This medicine is infused for 3 weeks, filtered. It is consumed in 100 ml up to 3 times a day before meals.

The traditional remedies for headache relief are symptom-relieving analgesics.In therapeutic doses, the drug aggravates pain and sensitivity, causes problems in the work of consciousness.

Which tablets help with headaches

In the medical classification, the following types of headaches are distinguished:

1. Tension.
2. Hangover.
3. Clustered.
4. For oncological benign brain tumors.
5. Migraine.
6. Caused by intracranial bleeding.
7. For hypertension.

The head hurts with colds, infectious, internal diseases, when the weather changes, from stuffiness, overwork, therefore, when choosing medicines, you should pay attention to the nature, localization of pain, give preference to drugs of directed or general action:

• antispasmodics;
• vascular;
• normalizing pressure;
• anesthetics;
• anti-inflammatory drugs, etc.

From migraine

The cause of migraine lies in disorders of the nervous system or blood circulation, and stressful situations, changes in weather or moon phases, food allergies, fatigue, certain periods of the menstrual cycle become the cause (provoking factor).The attacks last for several hours and take place in three phases:

• initial – a feeling of harbingers of an attack;
• main – the onset of pain;
• final – a gradual decrease in pain.

To relieve an attack at the initial stage, take pain relievers for migraines (Diclofenac, Panangin, Nise (Ketanov), Farmadol), drugs based on aspirin, ibuprofen (Nurofen, Ibuprom , “Imet”, “Brufen”). For severe pain in the head, drugs help:

• “Kafergot”;
• Migrenol;
• Digidergot;
• “Sumatriptan” (“Imigran”).

With increased pressure

Effective drugs that can lower blood pressure and alleviate the condition are:

• Beta-blockers (“Egilok Retard”, “Atenolol”, “Bisoprolol”) reduce blood pressure and eliminate pain, give a long-lasting effect.
• Tranquilizers (Phenazepam, Valium, Xanax) reduce the sensation of heat and headache, have a calming effect.

• Antidepressants (Amitriptyline, Imipramine, Clomipramine, Fluoxetine, Nefazodone, Minseran) relieve tension and pain, enhance the effect of analgesics.
• Antispasmodics for headaches eliminate vasoconstriction (Papaverin, Spazgan, Spazmalgon, Dibazol).
• Combined preparations have a sedative, analgesic effect (Tempalgin, Brinerdin, Adelfan).

Low pressure

Treatment for low pressure headaches cannot be the same. Some need to relieve the spasms that have arisen, someone needs to take painkillers, others need medicines for migraines.Hypotensive pain relief pills have a pressure-increasing effect and act as analgesics. These are caffeine-containing, vasodilating drugs, adaptogens, anticholinergics, alpha-adrenomimetics:

• “Citramon”;
• “Askofen”;
• Pentalgin;
• “Gutron”;
• Bellataminal.

With a hangover

A hangover is accompanied by excruciating, “splitting” pain in the head, which occurs as a result of vasodilation.This condition helps to relieve antispasmodics and analgesics, which should be taken together with drugs that remove harmful substances and vitamins from the body. The combined action is possessed by drugs that help cure a hangover. Their approximate list:

• “Alka-Seltzer”;
• Effervescent Aspirin;
• Zorex;
• Piel-Alco;
• Vega;
• Alco Buffer;
• Antipohmelin;
• Guten Morgen;
• “Alkoklin” and others.

Among the popular pills are those that are effective for a hangover:

• “Paracetamol”;
• Solpadein;
• “Acetylsalicylic acid”;
• Citramon;
• Ibuprofen.

It is better to try to prevent any ailment than to suffer later in search of a cure. What if you don’t want to suffer from headaches? The first thing to do is restore your daily routine. It is important to allow yourself to rest in a timely manner, to achieve mental peace.You should not go to the other extreme and, as they say, sleep off on weekends. Excess sleep is equally harmful, especially for those with low hemoglobin levels.

Secondly, think about proper nutrition.

Third, learn to relax your muscles on your own and breathe correctly so as not to bring yourself to tension headaches. The ideal option is to sign up for yoga, where the principles of healthy living will gradually be introduced into the habit.

If you are ready to approach your health seriously, you can keep a diary in which you will note everything that you did for prevention (food, massage, walks, sports) and what you did harmful to the body (alcohol consumption, lack of sleep, etc.) …etc.).

How to relieve a headache if there is no medicine at hand / “Interlocutor”

25.02.2009 No. 7. Lipovets Irina.

In the off-season, when the weather changes every day, headaches torment even those who do not often complain of well-being. And therefore, he does not have the habit of carrying with him a bunch of medicines for different occasions. What to do? You can try to cope with a headache without medication – therapist Nikolai Pravednikov, an employee of the Independent Laboratory Invitro, suggested several effective techniques.

Face + mirror

Do some simple exercises in front of the mirror to relax the facial muscles. Raise your eyebrows quickly – first the right, then the left, then both. Close your eyes and squint them to the right, to the left. Frown deeply. Press with your fingertips on your eyebrows, move them to the bridge of the nose. Relax your facial muscles after each exercise.

Acupressure massage

Find points on the temples that respond to pressure with pain, and massage them slowly.These are the so-called reflexogenic zones – their stimulation causes vasodilation and an improvement in cerebral circulation, as a result, if the headache does not go away completely, then it subsides. Likewise, you can massage the bridge of the nose.

Eye massage

Close your eyes and massage the eyeballs in a gentle circular motion – clockwise and backwards.

Footbaths

You can steam your feet in moderately hot water.This is a red herring – blood will rush from head to feet, pain will subside. But! This procedure should not be done for those who have high blood pressure!

Neck Warm-up

Headaches are relieved by neck massage – especially in cases where painful sensations are associated with osteochondrosis of the cervical spine. In addition to the massage, there are some simple exercises that should be performed slowly: tilt your head alternately to the right and left shoulder, press your chin to your chest, tilt your head back.

Rubbing

Place your palms on the auricles, warm them, and then rub until a well-felt warmth appears. Pull them gently in different directions, up and down.

Double massage

This technique is used in su-jok therapy – despite the exoticism, it is quite effective. Anyone who has a headache should completely undress, lie on his stomach on a flat surface – on a couch, on a sofa, on a table or on a rug.His task is to focus and mentally determine the place where the headache is most severe. The second person should find a point on his buttocks corresponding to the area where the pain is most intense, and press on it. It is important that the muscles of the buttocks are completely relaxed.

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