Neurologist at SM-Clinic spoke about how to get rid of headaches without pills

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Relieve tension Change contraceptive method Check your vision Primary or secondary headache? Sources

Headache can be caused by stress, fatigue, taking oral contraceptives, overstrain of the eye muscles with incorrectly selected glasses or lenses, a jump in blood pressure, dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint, which in turn leads to secondary tension in the cervical-occipital muscles, causing tension in the aponeurosis, and many other reasons.

One of the common triggers of headaches can be anemia, leading to chronic pain syndrome.

It happens that there is no painkiller at hand or it is impossible to use: the pain is caused by a side effect of another drug, the patient fundamentally avoids taking pills, the medicine cannot be taken due to pregnancy or lactation. How to relieve a headache in this case?

Warm shower

Traditional methods of treating headaches are varied and include taking a shower or bath.

Often headaches occur due to poor circulation in the head due to muscle spasms or cervical osteochondrosis. Taking a hot shower helps to dilate blood vessels, but if this is not possible, a heating pad applied to the neck area will help. You can also use a woolen scarf, which you need to wrap your neck after lightly rubbing the area of ​​its back surface. It is important to note that a contrast shower in itself perfectly relieves headaches.

A warm bath will also help relieve headaches. Water procedures relieve spasmodic pain and also relieve tension in the neck and head. For the best effect, you need to take a warm bath with lemon juice, sea salt, lavender, mint essential oil or marjoram.

Relieve tension

Tension headaches are a common problem for people whose jobs involve high levels of concentration, responsibility, and stress.
The prevalence of this type of pain in the world ranges from 46 to 78%. Statistically, tension headaches lead to more missed work days than migraines. There are three categories of tension headaches: infrequent episodic, frequent episodic and chronic. Doctors usually advise treating headaches with over-the-counter analgesics. However, with frequent and chronic pain, medications soon stop helping.

Massage helps treat headaches. Scientists conducted an experiment: over the course of 4 weeks, they conducted four treatment sessions for participants in two groups. For the first group, therapy included massage and manipulation of the cervical spine, for the second group - only massage. 8 weeks after the experiment, participants in both groups showed significant improvement in performance.

A course of relaxing massage, gentle manual practices, and osteopathic techniques can be an effective method of reducing the frequency and intensity of headaches. But if this is not possible, then an independent head massage will help relieve the spasm that is causing the problem.

Cervical exercises can also help situationally: bending and turning the neck will improve blood circulation and reduce the intensity of pain.

But you should be careful with circular movements, they can provoke spinal tension.

If the pain is caused by mild stress or fatigue, you can use breathing practices, meditation and other methods that reduce arousal.

Is it possible to relieve headaches with massage?

We will not talk about cephalalgia caused by serious diseases - here you cannot do without the help of a doctor. But you can get rid of primary headaches with the help of acupressure (acupressure).

First, I’ll tell you what kind of treatment method this is. It refers to alternative medicine and involves influencing the same points as with acupuncture (acupuncture).

This method has not found support among doctors of evidence-based medicine, but it is very popular among the population, and according to patients, it is effective.

So, there are 6 points on the head and arms that can be used for pain (used sequentially - from the first to the second and further):

1. The first can be found above the nose, between the eyebrows. You need to perform 30 light pressures.
2. Two points that are located above the upper lip, on either side of its corners. They should be massaged with low power movements for 2 minutes.
3. The next two points are located above the nose, closer to the bridge of the nose, just below the inner corners of the eyebrows. They must be affected with light movements for no longer than one minute.
4. Two more points can be found at the back, where hair growth begins. They are located parallel to each other, on either side of the spine. It is enough to massage them for 2 minutes.
5. Points above the ears, parallel to the temples, require exposure for one minute.
6. The latter is located on the hand - between the thumb and index finger. Press on the point for 1-2 minutes.

In addition to acupressure, a general head massage helps many people - it normalizes blood circulation, relieves spasms and, thanks to this, relieves pain. You can perform the procedure yourself:

• Lower your head down and massage your entire neck for a couple of minutes;
• Now you should perform movements reminiscent of washing your hair in the upper part of the skull (at least 5 minutes);
• Massage your temples for 5 minutes, moving in light circular movements towards the back of your head;
• Rub your earlobes for 2-3 minutes.

After the procedure, rest is necessary (under no circumstances should you make sudden movements or bend over). Usually after a massage there is relief, both physical and emotional.

Change your contraceptive method

In some cases, if you have a headache, it should be treated not by prescribing medications, but, on the contrary, by stopping taking them.
For example, patients suffering from migraine with aura should avoid taking combined oral contraceptives due to the high risk of ischemic stroke due to their ability to provoke thrombogenesis. For women suffering from severe headaches and migraines without aura, the risks are lower, but for them exogenous hormones and estrogen withdrawal may also be triggers.

Therefore, if you notice that after starting to take oral contraception, headaches have become more frequent and intense, this is a reason to think about changing your method of preventing pregnancy.

What not to do when you have a headache

• ● Be patient
  . There will be no benefit from this, and besides, pain always signals problems in the functioning of the body, which it is advisable to eliminate as soon as possible.
• ● Drink alcohol
  . Alcohol in some cases can relieve headaches (for example, with vascular spasms), and sometimes it can seriously aggravate the condition (for example, with pain of stomach origin).
• ● Swallow handfuls of tablets
  . The interval between taking painkillers (citramon, aspirin, nimesil, etc.) should be at least 30 minutes, or even better, 1-2 hours. If you start swallowing everything at once, without pausing, then in addition to your head, your stomach will ache.
• ● Cold douches
  . If you pour ice water over your head, the feeling of extreme cold actually temporarily overcomes the feeling of pain, but in the future, the vascular spasm caused by the cold shock will only lead to a further deterioration of the condition.

In general, if we talk about headaches, the best remedy for them is a healthy lifestyle. Proper nutrition, good sleep, sufficient physical activity, absence of nervous shock - you just need to follow these well-known recommendations to completely forget about headaches and generally feeling unwell!

Primary or secondary headache?

Headaches are divided into primary and secondary.
Primary headaches have no structural or metabolic cause. It is mild pain of this type that can be relieved with relaxation, massage, walking in the fresh air, and so on. These also include tension headaches, migraines, cluster headaches, and analgesic rebound headaches. Secondary headaches are caused by conditions such as increased intracranial pressure, pseudotumor cerebri, subdural or intracerebral hematomas, hypertension, meningitis, temporal arteritis, Lyme disease, and brain tumors.

An accurate diagnosis and identification of the causes of headache largely determine the success of its treatment.

Therefore, if you experience frequent, intense or chronic headaches, you need to be examined by a specialist. In this case, it is better to start with a visit to a neurologist and ophthalmologist.

How to quickly relieve a headache without pills at home

Nowadays, many people try not to abuse medications. And this is correct - why poison the body with chemicals when you can get by with simple manipulations.

In our modern world, we are exposed to stress at every step, since everything flows and changes quickly, a headache can be a consequence of overwork and fatigue.

So, here are some simple ways to help relieve headaches:

1. Pull your hair. It is believed that this will help restore blood supply. As a result, vascular spasm is relieved and the pain goes away.
2. Aromatherapy. Essential oils have been used to treat various diseases since the 18th century; they are also suitable for the prevention and relief of headaches. What plants can be used: lavender, mint, eucalyptus, rosemary, basil, linden, sandalwood. The oil can be added to a bath, poured into aroma lamps, or inhaled. It is allowed to apply to the area of ​​the temples, forehead, and back of the head, but not in pure form, but mixed with neutral oil or any detergent.
3. Water procedures. A hot bath and even a shower improve blood circulation, relieve vascular spasms, and simply help get rid of fatigue and tension - and all this can cause headaches (for example, after a hard day at work).
4. Pure water. For a long time, all doctors have recommended drinking water throughout the day, preferably at least 2 liters per day. And this not only improves digestion and helps get rid of swelling. A glass of clean water without gases can eliminate headaches when they are associated with dehydration.
5. Fresh air. Residents of large, polluted cities often suffer from headaches due to lack of oxygen. Therefore, it is very important to take walks in the forest, park or square away from factories and heavily congested roads. Even 15 minutes spent in the fresh air will reduce discomfort in the head, relieve stress and improve your mood.

Attention! Unjustified use of painkillers can lead to drug-induced illness. Its manifestations may include allergies, gastric disorders (including ulcers), bleeding, liver and kidney damage.

Such methods are good for primary headaches, when the cause is some external factors - stress, overexertion, lack of sleep and rest, weather changes, etc.

Sources:

• Scripter C. Headache: Tension-Type Headache. FP Essent. 2018 Oct;473:17-20. PMID: 30346680.
• Espí-López GV, Zurriaga-Llorens R, Monzani L, Falla D. The effect of manipulation plus massage therapy versus massage therapy alone in people with tension-type headache. A randomized controlled clinical trial. Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 2021 Oct;52(5):606-617. Epub 2021 Mar 18. PMID: 26989818.
• Marks DR, Rapoport AM. Practical evaluation and diagnosis of headache. Semin Neurol. 1997;17(4):307-12. doi: 10.1055/s-2008-1040943. PMID: 9474710.
• MacGregor E.A. Contraception and headache. Headache. 2013 Feb;53(2):247-76. doi: 10.1111/head.12035. PMID: 23432442.
• Allais G, Gabellari IC, De Lorenzo C, Mana O, Benedetto C. Oral contraceptives in migraine. Expert Rev Neurother. 2009 Mar;9(3):381-93. doi: 10.1586/14737175.9.3.381. PMID: 19271947.
• Friedman DI. Headache and the eye. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2008 Aug;12(4):296-304. doi:10.1007/s11916-008-0050-1. PMID: 18625108.

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