Category: Headache & Migraine

If you’ve ever had a migraine, you know that when the first symptoms strike, it’s time to find relief — and fast. And when you find something that works, you stick with it.

Stretching

If you think tension might be contributing to your oncoming migraine, try stretches to relieve aching muscles. At the first sign of a migraine, stretch your neck by pointing your chin forward, up, and toward each shoulder and then shrug your shoulders up and forward and up and back.

Massage

Acupressure and reflexology points on the feet and hands can be massaged for quick relief of a migraine and headache pain. Try pressing on the webbed space between your thumb and pointer finger for possible relief. Head, shoulder, neck, and back massage can also provide relief by reducing muscle tension.

Acupuncture

Several studies have found that acupuncture provides some of the same long-term results as drugs but without side effects. A British review of 13 studies said, study-samples that received 12 acupuncture treatments over 3 months used 15% less pain medication than those that didn’t use acupuncture.

Ginger 

It’s believed ginger works against migraines because it contains anti-inflammatory elements, inhibits prostaglandin synthesis in addition to counteracting nausea that many migraine sufferers experience. Gently simmer three slices of gingerroot in two cups of water, covered, for 30 minutes.

Herbs

New recommendations from the American Academy of Neurology confirm that the herb butterbur can prevent migraines, possibly because it supports healthy blood flow to the brain. Dry-leaf capsules of feverfew may also reduce the frequency of migraines, though the clinical evidence is still inconclusive.

Essential Oils

In a study at the University of Kiel in Germany, researchers found that dabbing peppermint oil onto the forehead was an effective treatment for migraine pain, with relief usually occurring within 15 minutes. You can also try gently massaging a couple of drops of thyme and rosemary essential oil on your temples or forehead. Both of these essential oils contain carvacrol, a substance that inhibits COX-2, an enzyme responsible for inflammation and pain.

Waking up after having drunk just a few glasses of wine the night before, you’re pretty surprised to have pains around your temples, around your eye sockets and feeling groggy and slow. Sometimes, you don’t even drink that much and still wake up with a bad head! Here are three tips can help you to prevent a wine headache.

Drink a glass of water with every glass of wine

The most common mistake that wine drinkers make is hydration. It’s easy to forget because you are drinking already. When we drink alcohol, we begin to pull water from every inch of our body in order to help our liver flush out the toxin. If we aren’t drinking water in addition to our booze consumption, our body sucks up whatever water it can find, so we tend to become dehydrated much faster, and therefore develop a splitting headache. One of the quickest solutions to this problem is drinking a glass of water prior to enjoying a glass of wine.

Don’t eat sugary things with wine

The only thing worse than a red wine headache is a cake-and-wine headache. Tiramisu sounds particularly amazing, especially after a glass of wine. However, alcohol and sugar are two substances that when combined can create a powerful headache. When you body consumes alcohol or sugar, your need lots of water in order to help process the substances. If you are not well hydrated, your body starts to pull the necessary water it needs from other parts or your body, including your head. As the liquid in your head starts to deplete, a headache forms.

Temple massage with peppermint oil

If you already got a wine headache, here is a simple tip to relieve your headache. Apply pressure with your three middle fingers in temple area for about 10 seconds. Repeat two to three times. It clears the blocked meridians so that energy may flow freely throughout the body. Enhance your temple massage with some aromatherapy. Essential oils of white flower, peppermint, or spearmint are high in menthol, which is noted for its pain-relieving properties. You could also rub some tiger balm, which is also high in menthol, on your temples.