Headache and migraine sufferers take note: there are easy, natural ways to treat and prevent migraine headaches and relieve temple, sinus, eye, and neck pain.
There's nothing quite like a migraine to bring a productive day to a staggering, painful halt. Although there are many types of headaches and migraines, their causes are common and are usually easy to treat – and easier to prevent. Read on for the top five natural approaches to headache and migraine help.
How to Prevent Migraine Headaches
- Water – Although it might sound too good to be true, doctors report that as many as 90% of headaches may be caused by dehydration. What this means is that drinking more water throughout the day can be enough to prevent most headaches. Sipping from a glass of water at work or a mug of herbal tea at home can go a long way toward preventing migraines. It's best to avoid coffee, soft drinks, and other sources of caffeine that can dehydrate.
- Sleep – The importance of sleep in relieving just about every kind of pain and chronic condition cannot be overrated. Sleep is vital for hormone balance, weight loss, metabolism, stress relief, and equally important for preventing headaches. Sleep deprivation is one of the most insidious migraine causes, because it is so easy to prevent and so difficult to identify.
- Exercise – The last thing anyone wants to do during a migraine is exercise, but regular activity can help prevent headaches and migraines by lowering stress levels, boosting endorphins, and supporting cardiovascular health. Exercise-induced headaches are rare, and most other headaches can actually be alleviated with gentle exercise, according to neurologist Nabih Ramadan. Ramadan recommends aerobic exercise as a regular habit in the morning, and that headache sufferers avoid jarring or high-impact exercise, which can worsen headache pain.
- Food – While some foods can actually relieve headaches, it's been found that certain foods act as migraine triggers. Some of these are common: food ingredients like MSG, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and chocolate are common headache triggers. Other food migraine triggers are usually undiagnosed allergies. Nightshades vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant), peanuts, eggs, and wheat flour and other allergies can cause migraines and headaches. Try avoiding suspected foods for two weeks to a month and see if there is any difference in the frequency of headaches.
- Medication – Medication side effects are another little-known cause of migraines. Headaches most often occur in tandem with other issues (such as depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma) that are usually medicated, and many of these drugs have side effects that include headaches. Diet pills, birth control, and blood pressure medication are also suspect. What's more, it's been found that taking opioids or barbituates for migraine pain can cause chronic migraines.
These five steps aren't enough to solve every migraine in the world, but they certainly go a long way toward preventing headaches and can relieve the pain of living with migraines.
Sources
- Kittredge, Clare, "Exercise Can Help You Beat Headaches," EverydayHealth.com, 23 February 2009.
- Roth, Ronald, "Migraine Headaches: Nutritional Causes, Prevention and Therapies," Acu-Cell.com, 2009.
- Yoffee, Lynn, "Medications That Can Cause Headaches," EverydayHealth.com, 23 February 2009.
Copyright Victoria Anisman-Reiner. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
Victoria Anisman-Reiner - Victoria Anisman-Reiner is a freelance writer with extensive experience in holistic health care and animal training.
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