Many suffer from headaches and migraines every day and headaches and migraines can disrupt everyday life, with the pain and discomfort they cause. There are various types of headaches: episodic tension headaches and chronic tension headaches.
There are certain signs and symptoms of headaches such as: having a headache when awakening in the morning, finding it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep, chronic fatigue, feeling irritable, unable to concentrate, noticing mild sensitivity to light or noise and general muscle aching. Migraine headaches have more symptoms and vary from person to person; however, some of the symptoms are: moderate to severe pain in the head, blurred vision, sensitivity to light, noise or odors, nausea, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, fatigue, sometimes fever and bright flashing dots or lights.
Those who suffer from cluster headaches have deep and constant pain in their cheekbones or forehead and suffer from pain that increases with sudden head movement. These symptoms often occur with other sinus symptoms such as a feeling of fullness in the ears, facial swelling and nasal discharge.
There are various causes of headaches such as stress and tension. Stress and tension comes from all areas of life such as tension at work, at home, stress dealing with difficult people, anxiety that often comes from unknown outcomes and stress that occurs when taking an exam or stress that comes from worry. Other causes of stress are: over using pain medication, lack of sleep, hunger, menstruation for women, the food we eat and withdrawal from addictive substances such as caffeine in coffee. In addition, the trauma from a head injury can cause severe headaches, as well as brain tumors.
For most headaches, home treatment is effective. Home treatment can reduce the severity of the pain and shorten the length of pain. In addition, home treatment may also give relief to other symptoms such as anxiety, fever, nausea or muscle aches. Home treatment may also lower a person’s pulse, which is important especially if the pulse goes over 110 beats a minute. Other home treatments that help are: resting in a quiet, dark room and placing a cool compress on your forehead. Tylenol, Advil and Aleve and aspirin also give relief from a headache.
There are other things you can do to reduce headaches such as relaxation exercises, warm or hot baths, applying an ice pack to the back or the neck or massage therapy. In addition, there are certain steps you can take that may prevent headaches such as eating regularly, keeping a regular sleep schedule, exercising on a regular basis such as walking, practicing good posture when sitting and making sure to have a yearly eye examination.
Headaches can also be prevented by avoiding certain headache triggers such as: caffeine and alcohol, salty foods, missed meals, stress, depression, over medicating, poor posture, glare from sunlight, strong odors and straining too much when chewing gum or clenching your teeth.
To conclude, headaches are literally a pain in every way. However, there are things you and I can do to prevent or lessen headaches such as engaging in relaxation exercises, avoiding certain headache “triggers,” ensuring that we get good sleep, not drinking too much coffee and finding ways to lower stress. Don’t let a headache stop you from enjoying your life. Follow one or more of the above suggestions, and find relief!