How to Reduce or Get Rid of Headaches

We have all been there, that pounding headache that can hit
us first thing in the morning or late afternoon. Why do we get headaches? How can we prevent them? There are lots of factors that can contribute to headaches,
such as stress, signs of illness and wrong diet.

There are 3 types of headaches, knowing which type you are
more susceptible to can make a difference in finding the right solution to make
it better.

A Tension-type
headache is located where the head and neck muscles meet. There are two kinds
of tension-type headaches, episodic and chronic. Episodic tension headaches are
recurrent episodes lasting minutes to days. The pain is typically pressing or
tightening with mild to moderate intensity and is not made worse with routine
physical activity. Chronic tension headaches are present for at least 15 days
per month for at least 6 months.

A Vascular
headache includes, migraines and cluster headaches, and is thought to involve
abnormal function of the brain's blood vessels or vascular system. Symptoms of
migraine headaches include: vomiting, nausea and sensitivity to light and
sound.

An Organically
caused headache may show reason for a more serious complication exists such as:a tumor or infection. The pain is mostly dull and general in quality and can
last anywhere from a short to long period of time.

Accrding to the National Headache Foundation 29.5 million Americans suffer from migraines with women three times more likely to be affected than men. About 75% of those suffering from migraines have a family history.

Many factors can trigger migraine attacks, such as alteration of sleep-wake cycle, missing or delaying a meal, medications that cause a swelling of the blood vessels, daily use of medications designed for relieving headache attacks, bright lights, sunlight, fluorescent lights, late night TV or movie theatres, certain foods, and excessive noise. Other trigger factors could be stress or underlying depression that can be diagnosed and treated adequately.

Before going to see a Physician record a log of recent headaches and what you did to treat them. Include information about your headache and general medical history.

Here is a list of information needed for your log;

1. Date
2. Length
3. Severity
4. Symptoms
   (i.e. vomiting or pain between eyes)
5. Triggers
   (i.e. after you ate chocolate)
6. Impact
   on your life (i.e. amount of days lost at work)
7. Record
   what medication you took (i.e. over-the-counter sinus medicine)
8. Write
   down when you took the medication
9. If
   it was effective in relieving pain or symptoms
10. How
    long the medication worked

If you are waiting to see a Physician, there are some tricks
you can use to reduce your headaches. Water is important to our bodies especially
our brain, making sure you drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day can reduce your
risk or a headache. You should stay away from consuming too many sugars or
eating too many carbs. If you feel a headache coming on at work or home with
kids, try taking 15 minutes away from everyone to meditate in a quiet, peaceful
and preferably dim-lite place. You can also try running hot then cold water,
alternating every 30 seconds on your wrists. Another tip is to squeeze your
hand in between your index finger and your thumb.

For more information feel free to check out: www.caregiverstress.com, www.homeinstead.com/mountainview
and www.headaches.org.

References: National Headache Foundation http://www.headaches.org/