Do you or someone you know suffer from bad headaches?
Headaches are a difficult health issue to walk around with. Mostly, because they’re an invisible problem. They don’t make noise like indigestion or show on your skin like eczema. Outsiders can’t tell that they are there, yet the symptoms that accompany headaches are often debilitating for sufferers. Some may even infringe on their ability to work or be present with their family and friends. In many cases, headaches impact people’s freedom to do what they want to do on a day to day basis. While headaches may be common it doesn’t mean that they are normal.
Will Medication Get Rid of Bad Headaches?
Sufferers often reach for medication to subdue symptoms, but did you know that you don’t need drugs to help with your headaches? Headaches are symptoms, meaning it’s our body’s way of telling us that something is wrong and needs to change. Though it is not always an overnight solution, there are many ways to not only alleviate the pain caused by headaches, but to actually correct the underlying issues that are causing them.
While medication might provide us with a quick and easy fix, it doesn’t fix the real problem that is causing the symptom (headaches) and medication often, if not always, comes with its own set of symptoms. Instead, it’s important to address what is really going on to achieve optimal wellness. Side effects may include: better sleep, feeling happier, and being able to be more active!
6 Practical to Get Rid of Bad Headaches
1. Drink water
When we become dehydrated, the tissue in our brains actually loses water, which causes shrinkage in your brain, leading your brain to pull away from your skull! This sends a signal to your pain receptors, causing headaches. Drinking the encouraged amount of water per day (about 8 8oz glasses) can help drastically with your headaches.
2. Remove stress
Stress most commonly triggers tension headaches. It’s estimated that 80% of adults experience tension headaches, many due to the stress in their lives. Certainly not all stress can be removed from our lives, as many things are unavoidable, but practical things like a clean home, taking 30 minutes a day for yourself, meditation, etc., can all help in alleviating stress and in turn alleviating headaches.
3. Meditate
Since we cannot easily remove all of the stress in our lives, we need to learn how to better deal with it when it arises. Sitting down for even 15 minutes every day, away from the chaos of life, can be so beneficial to our minds. Take some time at the beginning of your day to calm yourself and find your centre, and consider what you’re thankful for. Trust us, meditation is easier and more beneficial than you think!
4. Stretch
Tension and tightness in the neck and shoulder area often contributes to headaches. Stretching, even for a short period every day, can help with headaches. If you sit at a desk a lot, try just stretching your head from one side to the other, then forward and backward, and hold for 15 seconds each.
5. Look at your diet
Some foods and drinks can release neurotransmitters. Wheat, cheese, chocolate, alcohol, caffeine, etc., can all be causes of headaches. Food can also contribute to inflammation in your body. Sometimes our body reacts to food by giving us things like eczema, sore joints, and you’ve got it, headaches! Keeping a journal of what food you’re eating and seeing if there is a pattern of certain foods that seem to trigger your headaches can be very helpful. Need help in the diet department? Consider seeing a Holistic Nutritionist.
6. See a chiropractor
Headache can be often caused by misalignment of the spine. Life stressors can cause the spine to go out of alignment, these misalignments are called subluxations and they can cause interference with nerve impulses. Nearly all spinal problems are caused by some type of mechanical or structural stress; therefore correcting these misalignments restores the body’s abilities to heal itself. Chiropractors detect and correct subluxations by adjusting the spine to reinstate its normal balance and function which allows the nervous system to send and receive information without interference. Book a chiropractic appointment today!
Do you experience headaches? We have more information in our FREE Headache eBook here if you are interested.