Karla News

20 Natural Ways to Relieve Headaches

Eye Strain, Headache Remedies, Home Remedies for Headaches, Sinus Headaches

Headaches are the bane of our stressed out, OCD, overdrive lifestyles. The causes of headaches are varied: tension, sinus, migraine, allergy, PMS, hangover, lack of caffeine, hunger, tiredness, eye strain. Here are some natural headache remedies. You may need to try a combination of remedies.

Eye exam: Many times, recurrent headache are caused by eye strain. Headaches sufferers often need glasses and contacts to correct their vision. If you wear glasses or contacts and begin to get headaches, chances are good that your prescription has changed and you need different corrective lenses. If your glasses are scratched or the surface is damaged, this will cause headaches and eye strain. Can’t afford glasses? Try Walmart Vision Center or Goodwill Optical.

Warm bath or shower: All kinds of headaches can be relieved by taking a warm bath or shower. Sinus headaches respond very well to the steam and warm water; both help to open sinus passage, promote drainage and relieve headaches.

Warm facial or neck compresses: Apply a hot, moist washcloth to the back of the neck to relieve a tension headache. Apply a facial compress to relieve a sinus headache. Hangover headaches respond well to cold facial compresses or ice bags.

Darkened room: Many migraine sufferers cannot stand any light in the room when they are experiencing a migraine. Turn off the lights, especially florescent lights, and rest your eyes and headache in a darkened room.

Soothing eye drops: Allergy, sinus and hay fever sufferers often experience dry, itchy eyes. Dry eyes can cause headaches. Apply some moisturizing eye drops to relieve dryness and headache pain.

See also  Is Agave Nectar a Healthy Replacement for Sugar?

Bowel movement/ urination: This may sound odd, but going the bathroom can help relieve a headache. Constipation, bowel and bladder retention can cause pain in the whole body system.

Lavender or lemon essential oil aromatherapy: Both lavender and lemon essential oils are useful in relieving headaches. You can also create a steam tent by filling a bowl with hot water and lemon juice. Place a towel over your head and the bowl and breathe the steam.

Turn off the computer, television, video game, cell phone or digital device: Staring at a screen, especially small cell phone, Ipad, netbook, e-reader or GPS screens, can cause major headaches. If you are reading the screen and texting on it, even worse. Give your eyes a break and your headache may go away.

Turn off loud or annoying sounds: Most any sound can cause headaches if it becomes repetitive. Digital sounds, buzzing, beeping, clicking and ringing are the worst sounds to hear for a headache. Try sitting in a quiet room.

Eat a meal or nutritious snack: Hunger can quickly cause headaches, especially if you have been consuming caffeine and eating nothing. Eating a nutritious meal is sometimes all it takes to kick that headache.

Drink water: Not drinking enough water? That’s a sure way to get a headache. If you are consuming caffiene or alcohol and not drinking water, you can get a pretty violent headache.

Caffeine: Caffeine is a tricky substance when we talk about headaches. Too much caffiene can cause a headache; but so can lack of caffeine. If you normally drink even one serving of caffeine daily, going without can cause a nasty headache.

See also  Top Gluten-Free Foods

Lack of sleep: If you are over-tired, plan on getting a headache. The good news is that even a small ‘power’ nap (15 minutes) can kick a tiredness headache. If you’re at work, try resting your head and closing your eyes for a brief time, say on your break time.

For more on health and wellness, visit the blogs listed.

Reference: