Your headaches are typically caused by pain-sensing nerves in the muscles, blood vessels, and tissues of your head, neck, and face. Stress, sexual activity and certain foods may all play a part in creating them; sleeping too little or too much; bright lights; loud noises may all play their part too.
Consuming plenty of water and engaging in regular physical exercise are both proven ways to relieve tension.
Ice Packs
Cold packs are one of the most effective techniques for providing headache relief, as they reduce inflammation and blood flow to an area, relieving pain and discomfort.
Your options for using an ice pack include commercial versions or making one yourself. A homemade version can be created by filling a plastic zip-lock bag with water and adding some rubbing alcohol, which helps the ice stay frozen longer. A towel may also come in handy to prevent burning.
Option 2 is wetting a sponge and placing it in the freezer as a cold compress, or try placing uncooked rice inside of a sock before placing in the freezer, which will become as cold as ice without damaging your skin.
Over-the-Counter Pain Medicine
Some headache medicines are available without a valid valid prescription at your drug store, though their selection depends on your particular headache type and other health needs.
Acetaminophen (Tylenol) blocks pain messages in the brain and reduces fever. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve), may also provide temporary relief by blocking chemicals that cause inflammation.
Caffeine may help relieve headaches by acting as a mild stimulant. You can find caffeine tablets designed specifically to alleviate headaches at your drug store or just add it to your regular coffee or tea for use as needed.
If you use over-the-counter medicines to treat headaches, keeping a headache diary and sharing it with your doctor can help identify which types of medicine work best and prevent medication overuse headaches, which occur after regularly taking painkillers for several months. In addition, they can check underlying conditions that could be contributing to them.
Hot or Cold Compresses
Cold compresses work by constricting blood vessels, numbing the area, and blocking pain signals from reaching the brain. They’re particularly helpful for relieving headaches caused by sinus congestion, migraines or tension – simply freezing some vegetables may provide all you need to alleviate a headache!
Heat from a rice bag or heating pad increases blood flow and relaxes muscles, helping reduce stress. Alternating hot and cold compresses may offer contrast therapy – an effective strategy in some headache cases.
Other techniques for relieving headaches include stretching and regular exercise. Physical activity is known to boost both mood and help prevent chronic headaches; practicing meditation or deep breathing can calm your mind and increase pain tolerance; getting enough restful sleep each night (ideally seven to eight hours each night, at the same time each night) can also reduce frequency and severity of headaches; make sure you go to bed and wake up at consistent times each night!
Caffeine
Coffee or another caffeinated beverage may provide some people with relief from headaches. The caffeine works by narrowing blood vessels in their head and neck region, as well as relaxing tight muscles which may be contributing to tension-type headaches.
Caffeine can enhance the headache-relieving effects of over-the-counter pain medicines like acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin, and ibuprofen (Motrin). However, caffeine should only be used on occasion and no more than once or twice weekly to avoid what’s known as caffeine withdrawal headache.
Acupressure is another effective headache relief technique. By pressing on the back of your head with thumb and index finger to relieve migraines and tension-type headaches, as well as pressing where the base of skull meets forehead in front of neck for tension headaches, Acupressure kits can be found in most drugstores and grocery stores; for best results use this acupressure technique while lying down.
