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

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?

when a headache is a warning sign

Sometimes a headache is a symptom of some disease, in which case neither home remedies nor painkillers will help. You should see a doctor about headaches in the following cases:

● pain occurs more often than 2-3 times a month, and cannot be explained by loose nerves, colds, menstruation (in women) or other understandable factors;
● pain is practically not relieved by anything, even with the most powerful painkillers;
● the occurrence of headaches is accompanied by an increase in body temperature, nausea or impaired coordination of movements.

If you have a headache after experiencing nervous stress or for some unknown reason, there are several simple ways to quickly return your health to normal.

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.

How to get rid of headaches in the temples and back of the head using folk remedies

And now the most popular traditional medicine recipes for treating headaches:

Attention! We immediately warn you that before using such methods in practice, you should determine the cause of cephalalgia and consult a neurologist!

Chamomile tea. It will help relieve spasms and eliminate nausea, which often accompanies migraines or forehead pain. You can brew herbs or regular filter bags.
Melissa. Calming herb helps if pain is caused by insomnia, fatigue and overexertion. Usually the infusion is made like this: pour 3 tablespoons of the raw material with a glass of boiling water, wait half an hour. Take 2 spoons every 2 hours.
Valerian root. It has an effect similar to lemon balm. Pour 200 ml of boiling water over a spoonful of crushed raw materials and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Cool, filter and take a spoon three times a day.
Compress with vinegar. Dilute a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a liter of water, moisten gauze and apply to the forehead and temples for 10 minutes.
Cabbage leaf. You can simply apply it to the area of the head where pain is felt.
Hawthorn. A tonic drink will help eliminate cephalgia caused by fatigue. Pour a tablespoon of berries with a glass of boiling water and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Cool and drink before eating.
Sweet tea. A great way if you have a headache due to low blood pressure.
Cinnamon. Pour a pinch of ground cinnamon into a glass of boiling water and leave for 30 minutes. Add sugar (to make it taste good) and drink in small sips.
Lemon, ginger or mint. You can eat citrus or apply the zest to a sore spot, or make tea with ginger and mint.
Herbal collection. Brew tea: 2 tablespoons of linden and raspberry leaves, a spoonful of lingonberries and coltsfoot. Take warm in a glass before bedtime.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways to get rid of headaches. As a last resort, you can take a painkiller (but don’t overuse it or make it a habit to take medications).

But if cephalalgia is accompanied by vomiting, neurological symptoms, fever and loss of consciousness, you should urgently call an ambulance and not self-medicate. A consultation with a neurologist is also required if the pain persists for a long time and is difficult to relieve.

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.

Causes of severe headaches

Let's start with the fact that pain can come in different forms and types. Based on this, the following reasons can be described:

In the temples – surges in blood pressure, intoxication of the body, infections;
In the back of the head - cervical osteochondrosis, pinching or hernia in the cervical spine, hypertension;
In the forehead area - an inflammatory process (for example, sinusitis), intracranial pressure, infection;
In the eye area - vegetative-vascular dystonia, migraine, eye diseases (for example, glaucoma).

Severe headaches can accompany pressure changes, migraines, traumatic brain injuries and infectious diseases (sinusitis, meningitis).

If the pain comes on suddenly, it is most likely due to cerebral vasospasm. The degree of danger depends on the location, strength and duration of the pain syndrome.

Reference! The most dangerous are long-term and poorly controlled pain. This condition indicates severe damage to the central nervous system or even a brain tumor.

The causes of primary cephalgia can be stress, improper daily routine, low blood pressure, heavy physical labor, and mental stress.

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.

What types of compresses are there?

Any available material, water, ice, salt, vinegar, is suitable for compresses.

A cold compress for a headache stops blood flow. Divide the container for ice cubes into three parts, place one on the forehead, the other two on the temple area. If you have frozen vegetables in the refrigerator, you can use them as a pain reliever.

A hot compress for headaches dilates blood vessels, relieves tension and relaxes the triceps. You can apply a heating pad or dampen a cotton cloth with hot liquid. The contrast is more effective when hot procedures are applied to the back of the head, and cold ones are applied to the forehead and temporal zone. Alternating cold with hot will help with migraines.

Salt compresses for headaches are beneficial due to salt. To prepare a compress you need 1 tbsp. dilute with a glass of water and wet cotton or gauze material. Fold the fabric in several layers. The bandage should be wrung out so that it is not too wet. Then place it around your head for several hours. Do not cover with film or towel. Salt compresses help with respiratory diseases and hypertension, but are contraindicated in atherosclerosis.

Recipes for salt compresses:

Dissolve 1 heaped tbsp. salt in 50 ml of vodka, moisten the cloth and apply to the head.
Mix 200 g of blue clay and 2 tbsp. salt, make the mixture as an ointment. Apply to the soles of your feet for an hour, wrap with material and put on socks.

A vinegar compress for headaches is prepared in the following way: dilute vinegar with water in a 1:1 ratio. Moisten the material and apply to the temples and forehead. Change the dressing after 10 minutes.

Vinegar compress recipes:

Mix vinegar with olive oil, wet the cloth and keep the bandage on for 15 minutes.
Mix 0.5 cups of vinegar and water, add 2 tbsp. salt, moisten the gauze material with the solution, refresh after 10 minutes for an hour.
Mix equal proportions of celandine, vinegar and rose oil. The resulting mixture is lubricated with whiskey.

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.

Published on the portal health.mail.ru

Dream

Headaches often occur due to overwork or lack of sleep.
In this case, you need to take a nap for a couple of hours. Sleep is a great treatment for headaches without pills. During sleep, the vent or window should be open (you can pre-ventilate the room to keep it cool). However, too much sleep also causes headaches, so getting the right amount of rest is important for those looking for natural prevention. But if you feel constantly tired, the problem may lie elsewhere. Read about “5 hidden causes of chronic fatigue” in the article. If you don’t want or can’t sleep, it’s enough to arrange a “quiet hour” for yourself to get rid of unpleasant symptoms or significantly reduce them. For 10-15 minutes you need to lie down in complete silence, be sure to close your eyes. In this case, absolutely nothing should be done.

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