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Almost 90% of men and 95% of women get headaches regularly as a
response response to the realities of life: stress, fatigue,lack of
good sleep or from exposure to allergens. While millions of dollars are
spent each year on headache medications there are natural approaches
that studies have shown may reduce the frequency, intensity, or
duration of your headaches. Even if
the natural techniques do not provide complete relief, they may enable
you to
cut back on headache medications.
Avoid triggers
 This
approach is simple, risk-free, and costs nothing. The first step is to
figure out whether there’s a connection between your headaches and
particular foods, activities, or situations. Few triggers are obvious,
so a headache diary is a good tool to use when trying to figure this
out.
If you do find that certain foods or beverages bring
on your headache, make it a priority to avoid these triggers. For
example, people with cluster headache usually find that they need to
give up alcohol during periods when their headaches are active. Wearing
sunglasses can be effective if exposure to sunlight precipitates your
headaches. Or, if changes in eating and sleeping habits are likely to
set off a headache, make an extra effort to maintain a regular schedule.
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A note on caffeine and headaches
Some
people find that simply drinking a caffeinated beverage can ease their
migraine headache. This is because caffeine causes blood vessels to
narrow, and the pain of a migraine headache is caused by the expansion
of blood vessels. Therefore, caffeine offers relief by counteracting
the vasodilation.
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Relaxation techniques
A
number of techniques are available to relax your muscles and ease
tension, which should help reduce headache pain. No single technique is
better than the others, so it’s best to experiment until you find the
approach that works for you. However, whatever you choose, the
technique will work only if you do it on a regular basis, preferably
daily. Options include these:
- deep
diaphragmatic breathing, which involves breathing so that your abdomen
(rather than your chest) expands with each breath
- meditation, a process of turning the attention inward rather than being distracted by outside events
- visualization, in which you imagine a peaceful scene that relaxes you.
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prescription for stress relief
You
can’t eliminate stress from your life, but a few tried-and-true coping
techniques may help prevent headaches or ease them once they begin.
- Exercise.
Aerobic exercise alleviates stress and can boost your mood. Aim to work
30 minutes of moderate activity, such as brisk walking, into your
schedule on all or most days.
- Get enough sleep.
Most people need seven to eight hours of sleep a night. If you’re
finding it hard to fall or stay asleep, you may want to examine your
waking hours. Strategies such as exercising, avoiding caffeine in the
afternoon, limiting fluids before bedtime, and not watching TV in bed
can improve sleep. If you still have trouble sleeping, consider
consulting a sleep specialist.
- Learn relaxation techniques. Treat yourself to a massage. Try meditation, yoga, or deep breathing.
- Confront stressful situations head-on.
Don’t let stressful situations fester. Use negotiation skills at work,
and hold family problem-solving sessions at home. Don’t wait until the
end of the day or week to confront a problem.
- Improve your time-management skills. These techniques can help you juggle work and family demands and ease your stress levels.
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Physical Therapy
By
relaxing the tense muscles that commonly accompany tension and migraine
headaches, certain types of physical therapy may provide relief. Your
physical therapist may teach you daily neck and shoulder exercises you
can do on your own or use devices and techniques aimed at relaxing
muscles.
Physical therapists often use hot or cold
compresses. You can try the same techniques at home. A heating pad
applied daily, for example, can relax tense muscles in your neck and
shoulders and help prevent headaches. Taking a hot shower or bath can
also help. A cold pack can constrict blood vessels and ease the pain of
a headache already in progress, and it can be especially helpful for
throbbing temples. Massage, when performed by a licensed massage
therapist, can loosen tight muscles.
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