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A headache could mean a good number of things. It could mean that you simply need to eat more or drink more water. Or it may indicate a stress-related problem. Whatever the cause, you can find relief with many home remedies.
Managing Your Stress Level
If you’re working more than ten hours a day and already experiencing tension headaches, it’s probably a good idea to take a breather. Know when your body needs some rest. If possible, try sticking to forty hours of work per week.
On the other hand, you can experience stress from other areas of life besides work. What you want to do is develop a healthy coping mechanism and find simple, creative solutions to help you address the problem. The handy “Headaches by Type” booklet from Selene River Press can put you on a path to understanding where your headaches come and also identify (with the help of your holistic health care provider) the best way to treat them.
Massage the Neck and Surrounding Muscles
Message therapy can help increase blood circulation and relax your muscles, making it one of the best ways to reduce the symptoms of a tension headache. Your neck and shoulders is an excellent place to start, but it may also help to massage your forehead and even parts of your face.
Massaging some parts of the back can also provide relief. If you can’t reach your back, try asking someone to give you a massage, or simply use a tennis ball for a myofascial release on the upper back and other hard to reach areas.
Reduce Your Exposure to Triggers
Tension headaches have many triggers, including smoking, drinking too much coffee, and stress. You need to identify what causes your tension headaches, especially if you get them on a regular basis.
Eat on Time
Another probable cause of tension headaches is not eating on time, which is why so many workaholics and students suffer from them. What you want is to eat on schedule. As rule of thumb, take a quick break to eat every two to three hours from work that requires intense concentration.
Get Enough Sleep
If you experience tension headaches on a regular basis, it’s a good idea to check the number of hours that you sleep. If you’re only getting five hours per night, you probably need to change the way you sleep in order to give your body time to recover. Remember, headaches could be a warning from your body that something isn’t right. If your body is telling you that you need more sleep and more time to recover, you’d be wise to heed the warning.
Whenever you’re experiencing headaches, it’s also a good idea to close your eyes and reduce your exposure to stimuli such as noise and light. This can help you relax and alleviate the discomfort.
There are many techniques for alleviating a tension headache. It’s important to know about common home remedies you can do on your own so you won’t have to rely on pharmaceutical options.
Image from iStock/g-stockstudio.
