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As with any symptom, it is important to explore the possibility that your headache is your body’s way of telling you some aspect of your life is in need of some change or attention. For some people, their headache is a result of their diet. For others, chronic stress, anxiety, or blocked emotions is the main issue. Other possible “triggers” of headaches include poor posture, lack of sleep, dehydration, TMJ pain, depression, menstrual difficulties, eyestrain, excessive caffeine consumption, smoking, and artificial sweeteners. One of the best ways of discovering the potential root cause of a headache is to keep a headache journal for a couple of months. When you get a headache, write down the date and the type of pain you are experiencing. Then write down everything that you ate and drank for the previous 24hours. Other things to record in your journal from the previous 24 hours are: A) How much sleep did you get the night before? How rested were you? B) How were you feeling emotionally? Were you upset about anything? Were you feeling a lot of stress? C) For women: Where were you in your menstrual cycle? At the end of the 2 months, looking back at the journal can often illuminate patterns of lifestyle choices and circumstances that may be giving rise to your headaches. Once you identify and understand the triggers to your headaches, you are then in a better position to make the changes that will positively affect your health. As stated before, sometimes headaches can be an excellent guide for helping us to see the areas of our life that are in need of some attention. Just getting rid of the pain without also exploring the potential causes of the headache, robs us of a valuable opportunity to shift some aspect of our life that may cause us worse problems in the long run if left unchecked. There are many alternative methods for helping to alleviate a headache once you have one. From an herbal perspective, the following herbs have been shown to be useful in the treatment of headaches.
It is important to consult an experienced, licensed herbalist to help with proper diagnosis and herbal dosage. If your headache is tension related, try lying down with a heating pad on your neck and shoulders, and using the time as an opportunity to take some deep relaxing breaths. Later, ask a friend to massage your neck and shoulders. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, M.D., author of “Your Body’s Many Cries For Water,” says that dehydration is one of the most common causes of a headache. When the supply of water in your body starts to drop, blood vessels in the brain open up in order to increase circulation. The opening up of the blood vessels is what causes the pain. Batmanghelidj writes that drinking a glass of water with medication may do at least as much as the medication for the pain. He recommends to drink at least 64 ounces of water a day, and to prevent a full blown headache, to drink 16 ounces of water immediately. Nutritionally, it is important to make sure that you are getting enough magnesium in your diet (at least 500mg/day), as it greatly helps in minimizing nerve excitability and increases muscle relaxation. Other nutrients such as Omega 3 oils, vitamin B2, folic acid, vitamin C, and choline have all been shown to help in the prevention and treatment of migraines. Robert Milne, M.D., author of the “Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide To Headaches,” suggests eating 12 almonds instead of taking aspirin for a headache. Almonds contain salicin, the active ingredient in aspirin. Some headaches are warning signs to seek immediate medical
attention. See a medical professional if you suffer from a sudden and
severe headache, that is the worst headache that you’ve ever had before;
if you begin to have slurred speech or difficulty moving; if the pain is
accompanied by neck stiffness and fever; or if you get headaches following
a neck injury.
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