Avoid Headaches
Nothing puts a dent in your day like carrying around a headache. Whether you suffer from tension headaches or migraines, headaches are no fun. In some situations, headaches can turn into a chronic, even debilitating problem. The causes of headaches are many, but if you can pinpoint what causes yours, you can learn how to avoid headaches altogether.
Contents
Steps
Making Positive Changes
- Keep yourself hydrated. Not getting enough water on a daily basis can lead to a plethora of bodily issues, one of which is frequent headaches. Drink many fluids throughout the day, focusing on drinking mostly water. You may feel relief in a half hour. Some of the reason that headache pills seem to work is people usually take them with a glass of water.
- Reduce your stress. Whether you’re chronically stressed or anxiety is infrequent for you, one of the most common causes of headaches is stress. Take matters into your hands by identifying a possible stressor, and using stress management techniques to deal with it. These could vary from a bubble bath with aromatherapy to getting together with friends or sitting down and talking about your problems. Regardless of how you choose to deal with your stress, when you do you’ll likely notice a sharp decline in the number and severity of the headaches you experience.
- Exercise more. The power of exercise is vast, and among the many things it is capable of doing is healing and preventing headaches. Aim for 30 minutes or more of exercise a day, including some cardio. Working out will release endorphins which improve your mood as well, so not only will your headaches go away, you’ll be extra happy as well.
- Get your beauty rest. No one feels top-notch running on less than six hours of sleep, but if you constantly are getting less than the required night’s worth of sleep or if you get a single night of significantly lacking sleep, you’re much more likely to experience a killer headache. Aim for at least eight hours of sleep per night; although it may take some adjusting of your schedule, your headaches will likely disappear. Suffering from a headache right now? Try taking a 30 minute cat nap to give your brain a bit of time to reboot.
- Straighten out your diet. Your diet works in two parts: if you’re eating your meals at significantly different times each day or if you’re not eating a balanced diet, you may be experiencing headaches as a result. Start by setting firm times to eat each of your meals, with your last meal being no later than two hours before you head to bed at night. Additionally, work on incorporating plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and foods that contain Omega-3 fatty acids (like salmon). These will help to provide your body with the nutrients it needs, reducing the likelihood of a headache.
- Try aromatherapy. If you’re around bad smells all the time (or on the flip side, the scent of chemicals and harsh perfumes), aromatherapy might be a great solution to your headache problems. Incorporate light scents into your home or workplace like lavender or eucalyptus; both have shown to reduce the effects of headaches. You can also dab a little essential oil or cinnamon mixed into a paste with water onto your temples. This will work to reduce headaches you’re currently experiencing, while having the scents fill your home will work to prevent future headaches.
- Have sex, if you can. Although this certainly isn’t an option for everyone, having sex with someone you love increases your endorphins and lowers the stress hormones responsible for causing headaches. If you’re not able to or comfortable with having sex, a little cuddling or physical touch with someone you like can help to reduce a current or future headache as well.
Avoiding Causes
- Visit the dentist. Tartar and plaque buildup, cavities and grinding one's teeth at night can all cause headaches.
- Stay away from alcohol and tobacco. Although both are the cause of other health issues, they are major sources of frequent headaches and are likely to increase stress. If you rely on either of these substances on a regular basis, do your best to ease yourself off of them. People who drink red wine and beer regularly have also reported worse headaches than those who don’t. In addition to feeling healthier all around, your headaches will probably become less frequent and severe.
- In general, most drugs will make headaches more frequent and painful, so avoid them if you can. Alcohol and tobacco are just the most commonly used.
- Try to avoid caffeine. The reasoning behind avoiding caffeine is two-part: caffeine is a diuretic, so you’re likely to become dehydrated faster (a cause of headaches). Additionally, if you have a caffeine addiction, you’ll get headaches as a symptom of caffeine withdrawal. Try to cut caffeine completely out of your diet for the best headache-fighting results, but if nothing else limit its consumption so that you avoid working your way into an addiction. Be sure to drink plenty of water at the times you do drink caffeine, as well.
- Limit your consumption of junk foods. Junk foods, including fried foods, processed foods, and foods high in sodium, sugar, and saturated fat are to blame for a wide variety of health issues including headaches. Although on occasion consuming these foods is alright, if they make up a large part of your diet, they may be to blame for your headaches. Work at creating a balanced diet and cutting these foods out whenever possible.
- Head for the sun and avoid rainy areas. Although it may seem strange, changes in barometric pressure (like before it rains) are often to blame for the onset of many headaches. Further, if you live in an area that has constant bad weather, you may be more likely to develop Seasonal Effective Disorder, which includes headaches as one of the many symptoms. If you’re truly tired of chronic headaches and can’t seem to find any other relief, try vacationing away in a sunny area with consistent weather.
- Try not to take pain relievers on a regular basis. It sounds counterintuitive, right? Believe it or not, if you take pain medication (such as ibuprofen, naproxen, acetaminophen, or aspirin) more than 10 times a month, you may be giving yourself more headaches. These medications may create something called ‘rebound headaches’ as a result of a type of built up tolerance/addiction to the pain pills. Minimize your consumption of these pills if you take them on a consistent and regular basis, and you may notice a decrease in your headaches as well.
Tips
- Make sure to have a good amount of fresh fruit and vegetables when you can, as eating unhealthy foods can cause stress, and try getting more sleep, a good amount is 7-9 hours. Using your computer too much can give you a headache as well.
- Use a 'headache diary' to track your headaches and the environment you're in at the time. Over time, you may be able to determine a cause to your headaches.
- One stress management technique, biofeedback, has shown a lot of success in headache prevention. In biofeedback training, a person is hooked up to a monitor that shows different physical responses. That person then learn how to reduce stress responses (higher blood pressure, muscle tension, shallow breathing) that often accompany headaches.
- Medical professionals have found that combining medication with stress management works better than using solely medication or stress management.
Warnings
- If you experience a new or different type of headache, go to your local emergency room. The headache could be a symptom of something more serious, particularly if there is also a stiff neck, fever, or confusion.
Related Articles
- Identify Different Types of Headaches
- Relieve a Tension Headache
- Cope with Basilar Migraines
- Get Rid of a Mild Headache when You Don't Have Any Painkillers
- Beat a Migraine with Visualization and Breathing
