Some different movements and stimuli that may spark your headaches include; straining your eyes, malnutrition, medications, stress, poor sleep positioning and even clenching your jaw. Follow these helpful tips the next time you experience a headache to achieve quick and effective relief.
1. Relax and contract the muscles in your upper body. Relaxing and tightening the muscles in your shoulders can help relieve some of the pressure and tightness that builds as you sit in one position throughout the day or even as you sleep. Letting your shoulders drop and alternating your movements with the tightened movement of your shoulders toward the ceiling can break up some of the rigidity that may plague you throughout the day. Completing this movement during your workday or even as you rise in the morning can prevent and sometimes relieve headaches.
2. Track Headache Occurrences. One of the best ways you can overcome the pain associated with headaches is by understanding why and when the pain occurs. Keeping a journal regarding when you experience pain in your head and neck can help reveal some of the triggers that may be causing your discomfort, allowing you to adjust your lifestyle, eating and sleeping habits to compensate.
3. Use Warmth or Cold. A cooling or warming pack can help ease the pressure in your head and neck regions, preventing and reducing the pain associated with headaches. While the heat of a warm compress can calm and ease the muscles in your body, cooling, such as ice, can also aid relaxation.
4. Give Your Upper Body Some Relief. Another natural remedy for your headaches is massaging your head and neck region can power through stress that causes headaches as well as provide relief once you are already victim to them. In addition to massaging your head with your finger tips, you can also focus your energy on reflex points that correspond to the area you may be experiencing pain. To prevent headaches, make sure you focus on your posture, insuring less strain in placed on areas of your body that may not be equipped to handle it.
5. Prevent Pain Completely. Exercise is just one method you may use to successfully reduce the tension and stress that can cause headaches. You may find forms of exercise that have particularly calming properties to be even more successful methods of prevention. Keeping muscles loose and getting your body moving after spending extensive time sitting or staring at a computer screen while reducing the stress you may experience in everyday life can be beneficial to your overall wellness. In addition, limit some of the time you stare at a screen, taking breaks throughout your work day to focus on something else or walk around to break up stiff positioning. Some foods and beverages can also provoke pain. You can decrease your chances of getting a head ache by avoiding excessive amounts of caffeine and alcohol as well as foods with MSG. If you continue to endure headaches, you may even uncover the triggers of your pain by eliminating foods from your diet slowly and charting any pain you experience or don’t experience.
July works in the medical field and enjoys writing about health and fitness. She spends her days providing her patients migraine treatment in Houston and her nights with her husband and two boys.