How
To Stop Headaches
Advice Notes 91-101
91
Consult the doctor specifically for the headache. Many people
feel queasy about going to a doctor with something as insignificant
as a headache. But the fact is that there is nothing insignificant
about a headache.
It is one of the most maddening things in the world. Every year
the nation loses millions of dollars worth of productive days
because good workers go down with headaches.
There is nothing to feel bad about consulting a doctor about
a headache. In fact many practitioners do a thriving business
by setting up headache clinics g here and there. If you have
a headache diary like the one we mentioned in the above point,
it would be very useful to your doctor in reaching a good diagnosis.
But you may however tell you doctor that the last thing you
would prefer would be OTC medication. You know what OTC stands
for don’t you? It stands for Over the Counter medication.
Try to help your doctor reach a better diagnosis and follow
the suggestions of your doctor as well.
Give your doctor a complete list of the all the medicines that
you consume. You have to remember that some of these medicines
might be altering your vascular system leading to a headache.
The medicines that you have to take particular not of are birth
control pills, medicines for blood pressure and any hormone
supplements.
92
Dress suitable when you are indoors as well as outdoors. Your
choice of what to wear must be in complete harmony with the
weather conditions and the temperature around you.
You have to understand that too much is just as bad as too little.
If you wrap yourself up tightly all the time you are in fact
restricting the flow of blood to certain parts of the body.
Ties
and scarves must be avoided as much a s possible and if you
have to wear these, try to keep them as loose as possible without
appearing too dowdy.
93
While traveling be nice to your body and give it time to adjust
to any time changes. For example if you are flying across the
International Date Line, there is ever chance that you will
experience what is popularly known as the jet lag. Give you
body time to adjust to such uncommon things.
Try your best to get the sleep that your body needs while you
are traveling. Do not bury your nose in a book or watch a movie,
SLEEP
94
Know your sinus points and use the acupressure method to treat
your self and rid yourself of the pain.
The best thing about the acupressure method is that it has no
side effects. It is something that you can do completely on
your own and if you are doing it properly, you can get almost
instant relief. I have described the steps in detail in the
points that follow, try doing it and I promise you, you will
be glad that you did it.
1.
First of all you have to get a clear idea of where your sinuses
really are.
2.
For this I recommend that you lie down on a flat surface preferably
without the support of a pillow.
3.
The next thing you should do is run your fingers gently over
your face, taking note of the various rises and falls.
4.
Now let your fingers linger in the portion above your eyes
but just below the eyebrow.
5.
Feel the bone over there and let you fingers sense out a notch
in that bone.
6.
This space extends from there towards the nasal bone.
7.
This is your first sinus point
8.
Now let your fingers trail down further till they reach the
depressions if we can call them that on both sides of the
nose halfway between the eyes and your mouth. This is your
second sinus point.
9.
Now what you have to do is apply pressure to these sinus points.
10.
You have to be careful when you do this and please take care
to use only the soft balls of your fingers and not the tips,
which may have long nails.
11.
First of all apply pressure gently.
12.
You might experience a particular pricking sensation as you
do.
13.
If it hurts, you may stop immediately.
14.
If not you may continue applying more and more pressure till
you can tolerate it.
15.
Then gently let go and lie there fore a minute experiencing
the pain fading away.
16.
Repeat this with the second sinus point.
17.
A point that you may bear in mind is that if your sinuses
are infected these regions will be slightly swollen.
95
Exercise is a good way to prevent headaches. Exercise is a wonderful
way of increasing the blood flow to the various organs and parts
of your body. So if you can develop a regular exercise pattern,
you will in fact be ensuring a better blood circulation and
proper supply of oxygen to the various cells of the body.
However,
it goes without saying that you should not try to exercise if
you are already experiencing a headache.
As
I mentioned earlier, a couple of centuries ago, people were
involved in a lot of manual labor.
This
gave their bodies all the exercise that was needed. But due
to the changed life styles, most of us do not have to engage
in strenuous work. Most of us sit in front of computers all
day long or engage in such sedentary works.
Work out, it’s good for you.
When we think about the life in the country, there is always
something rosy about it. What is it that the people in the country
have that we do not? When you ponder about it you find that
those lucky souls eat good food, they work really hard, by work
I mean real physical work and they have good night’s sleep.
Of course they do not have all the amenities and facilities
that the city life has to offer.
But
the city life comes with a lot of strings attached. People in
the cities are generally less healthy than the people in the
country. One of the reasons is pollution of course but the other
reason is because people in the city do not get enough exercise.
Now,
when I talk about healthy bodies please make no mistake about
what I am referring to. I am not talking about the Mr. Universe
kind of body, the bodies that we see on WWF.
I am talking about people who are fit. And fitness and exercise
are just two sides of the same coin. They both go hand in hand.
In
order to stay fit you need exercise and in order to exercise
you need to be fit. But just because you are not fit now, it
does not mean that you shouldn’t exercise.
And just like that, just because you do not have any visible
excess fat on your body right now, it does not mean that you
need no exercise. Exercise is the best way to keep obesity,
cardio vascular disorders, hypertension and all those lifestyle-related
disorders under control.
First
of all let us get one point straight, exercise does not necessarily
mean pumping metal. If you do have the time to go to a gymnasium
everyday, then that is well and good.
But
I suppose most of us do not have the time for a regular work
out in a gym. So the other alternative is to do it at home of
course.
But
whether it is at home or at a multi-gym, there is something
that I want to tell you. Whatever you are doing, you must try
and do it regularly.
Regularity
is very important for an exercise routine to have the desired
effect on our body. Getting started is the easy part, it is
sticking to a regular exercise routine that is difficult and
this is what makes most people give up in between.
Most people get on to a beautiful start. They buy tracksuits
and gym-wear, running shoes and a whole lot of other gear. Their
first day at the gym is almost a celebration.
Then
as the days go on, they find it increasingly difficult to meet
the domestic and professional demands and so their routine slows
down and finally comes to a complete workout burn out. In other
words, the stop working out completely
It
is a universal fact that the most chosen time for workouts is
the evenings. If you can stick to work out in the evenings then
it is well and good. But most of us find ourselves exhausted
in the evenings. We find ourselves physically and mentally drained.
And at that time our bodies will be just too tired for a work
out.
The
result is that after the first few days of working out, the
interest just dwindles away. The other reason is that in the
evenings a thousand and one things may crop up and then there
is hardly time for a warm up. So it is best to set aside some
time for exercise in the morning itself.
There
are two advantages of setting apart time in the morning. The
first advantage is that in the morning our bodies are fresh
and full of energy. Now over here I want to make one point clear.
There
is a popular misconception that exercise depletes the body of
energy but the case is just the opposite. Exercise pumps up
more blood through the different parts of the body and warms
up the body, so in fact, after exercise we feel more charged
and ready to face the challenges of the day.
The
second advantage is that in the morning we can plan for the
whole day without letting the exercise routine affect the rest
of our activities.
What
about those of us who have never worked out before? In such
cases you might need to start off under the personal supervision
of an instructor and that may require that you go to a gym.
But what I would suggest is that there are two simple things
that any one can do for which you do not need the help of any
instructor.
You
know what these are? They are walking and swimming. Any body
can walk and those of you who know how to swim can swim. For
these two activities you do not need much gear and experts say
that these two exercises have no side effects and are excellent
stress busters.
So
in the morning wake up just half an hour earlier, put on your
walking shoes and hit the roads. Most roads will be less crowded
at this hour and less polluted too. It is a wonderful way to
start a day. Below I have included some points on how to start
and maintain a good exercise routine.
96
Stretch your self every now and then. Never let cramps set in.
If you feel that you have been in a position for too long, get
and stretch yourself. Rub your hands and feet and the muscles
of your neck to boost up the circulation.
97
An exercise that will help you get rid of a tension related
headache. This is an exercise that is usually done by an expert
but I assure you that it is perfectly safe to do it on your
own as well.
1. Place your right hand on the top of your head or let it
rest on your forehead.
2.
Now gently turn your head towards the right. This will clear
the left side of your neck so that your left hand can have
easy access to it.
3.
Now place the palm of your left hand on the back of your neck
and let your fingers try to sense out any muscle that is particularly
taut.
4.
For this, all you have to do is let your fingers creep along
your neck like the legs of a spider but with a little more
force.
5.
When you have found a tight muscle, gently apply pressure
on it using the soft balls of your fingers.
6.
As you apply pressure, breathe in air and hold the air for
ten to twenty seconds.
7.
As you hold the air, the application of pressure must continue.
8.
Concentrate on the releasing of the tension of that muscle.
9.
Convince your mind that all the toxins that were pent up in
that muscle have now been released.
10.
When you feel that the muscle has relaxed, release your grip
and at the same time breathe out through your mouth, feeling
that all the toxins have been released from your body.
11.
Repeat the exercise on the same side of your neck and try
to find another muscle.
12.
In this way continue till all the muscles on the left side
are done.
13.
Now repeat this exercise with right side of your neck and
using your right hand this time.
98
Measure your migraine. Your migraine can be measure in terms
of the following criteria
-
Frequency:
How often do you get the migraine?
-
Intensity:
How severe is the pain? You can measure this yourself using
a 5-point scale. 0 stands for no pain at all, while 5 means
that you have the worst pain that you have ever had.
-
Duration:
How long does the pain last. Does it go by itself or you
have to get a deep sleep before you get any relief.
-
Medication:
Do you have to take any medicines before you get any relief
from it and if you have to do how many medicines do you
take and in what quantity?
99
Here are some more exercises for that tension headache...
You have to understand that the tension headache comes purely
from tight cervical and neck muscles. When muscles become tight,
what actually happens is that lactic acid gets accumulated in
them.
Under ordinary conditions, when a muscle works, glucose gets
converted into carbon dioxide and water. The blood easily removes
these two waste materials.
But
when a muscle has to work for too long or for tow hard the energy
demand is too high that the cells do not get time to convert
glucose fully into carbon dioxide and water. Instead the glucose
is converted into another substance that is lactic acid.
The problem with lactic acid is that it restricts further movement
of the muscles and this results in muscular cramps. In such
conditions application of a little bit of pressure can help
the muscles release the pent up lactic acid. When the cervical
and neck muscles get accumulated with lactic acid, it often
results in a headache. The exercise that is described below
can prove to be very effective.
1.
Turn on the shower and direct the flow of the stream of water
onto the back of your neck
2.
Now turn your head as if you are trying to see who is behind
you.
3.
Stand like this for one or two minute.
4.
Then repeat the exercise but looking in the opposite side this
time.
100
Take a 20 minute power nap during your lunch break. You will
wake up refreshed and without as many worries.
101
Eat organic foods. Many foods, especially produce and meats
contain pesticides and hormones that are not good for the body.
More and more stores are carrying organic foods that are safer
for your body and reduce the number of foreign chemicals entering
into your bloodstream. If your local grocery store does not
carry any of these food items, check to see if your city has
an organic store somewhere else.
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