Photo Courtesy of Pexels – Mikael Blomkvist
Some people may go through life and only occasionally experience a headache while others wrestle frequently with their pain and ways to find relief. Although more than half of the global population fall victim to headaches of one sort or another, women are usually more prone to this particular health problem compared to men due to hormones and changes in estrogen levels. On the other hand, you could also be born being hypersensitive from neuropathic pain that subjects you to them more frequently. As dismal as that may sound, here is what you need to know that may help you agonize less and better cope.
There is a slew of reasons for causes of headaches, but the most common types are tension, migraine, cluster, and allergy and sinus related ones like I am quite familiar with. Therefore, it is important to first learn how to distinguish between these typical forms.
Of all the average varieties, tension headaches rank at the top of the list. Believe it or not, tension may not be the sole culprit. According to some experts, these may be a milder kind of migraine without nausea, vomiting or changes in vision. You usually feel this persistent pain like a dull, tight band around the head. Then again, the pain could just center on the back of the head and neck.
Besides reaching for pain relievers, you can also try hot or cold to soothe the pain. Ice against the sore muscles of the area may help or warm compresses. You can try a hot water bottle to a heating pad may help for headache relief. A hot or cold bath with some aromatherapy or shower could also assist with muscles loosening up as well as melt tension breathing healing vapors in. Consequently, massaging the afflicted area and utilizing acupressure may surprise you by erasing knotted muscles that are in spasms.
Those unfortunate enough to have migraines know how brutal these recurring, severe headaches can be. They can just pound the head mercilessly like a hammer. Light and noises seem to intensify this type of pain along with movement. If you also happen to be a woman, you have a better chance to experience these attacks. The only good news here is during pregnancy when these episodes are less common.
The best thing that you do is finding out what triggers your migraine headaches. You might find certain foods, smells, loud noises to exposure to certain types of bright light can bring those on. The next time it happens, it’s a good idea to keep track of the dates and possible food, smell, etc. that set the headache off. You also may want to read my earlier post with migraine home remedies.
Cluster headaches usually plagued men, but more women have been developing these every year. This is a severe type of pain that usually occurs around the eye. The strange thing is that these headaches occur in spurts over days or weeks. More often than not, the intense pain sticks to one eye or side of the head. You also can experience other symptoms similar to an allergy or sinus infection with tearing of the eyes and nasal congestion.
Though there is no way to pinpoint the reason for cluster headaches, it is believed that the hypothalamus that coordinates the activities of the nervous system and pituitary is responsible. Therefore, you can’t blame foods, stress or hormones on this type.
The only thing that you can do at home for cluster headaches is avoiding smoking or alcohol during those attacks. However, certain medications may be causing the problem such as nitroglycerin so check with your doctor about the possibility of your prescriptions contributing to the problem and make an appointment.
Allergy or sinus related headaches may not be the worst pain, but it does interfere in daily life from the pressure and facial pain across the forehead and cheeks. If that is not bad enough, you also get nasal symptoms with a runny or stuffed nose, sneezing, itchy or watery eyes, congestion and how can I forgot post nasal drip.
Taking antihistamines can help block the offending allergen or allergens for many people. Others may require allergy desensitization shots to build up their immunity as a stronger line of defense for headache relief.
Nothing in this post is meant to diagnose headaches because only a medical professional can elevate what is going on to help you. What I shared is just a starting point to what may be the cause of your suffering for headache relief. If your pain persists, make an appointment with your doctor.