People suffer from headaches every single day. And, with more than 150 different classifications, all are not created equal. The most common examples include tension, migraine, and sinus.
Each one comes with its list of symptoms and is more-often-than-not, treated with over the counter (OTC), pain medications such as Tylenol, Advil, or Aleve.
MOST COMMON TYPES OF HEADACHES
- Tension headaches are the most prevalent and are most often caused by stress. Sufferers have described the pain not unlike a tourniquet, slowly tightening around their heads. In addition to OTC medications, they have found that massage has helped them to alleviate the stress and the pain.
- Sinus headaches are a common symptom of a cold or flu and are caused by a mucus build-up in the sinuses, which often leads to Sinusitis, an infection of the sinuses. Pain and pressure are felt around the eyes and nose. Treatment using a cold and sinus medication will usually ease the symptoms. If Sinusitis has developed, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics.
- Migraine, however, is a debilitating neurological disorder that affects more than 1 billion people worldwide. With more than 85% of those sufferers being women, it is thought that perhaps estrogen might play a role. Although they do not know the exact cause of this painful condition, there a variety of things can trigger them, such as stress, diet, alcohol, and some foods. Even the barometric pressure is thought to have a role to play in triggering a migraine. Although research continues and new medications flood the market, there is no cure, and more than half of the people that suffer are misdiagnosed or never diagnosed at all.
MIGRAINE SYMPTOMS
A migraine is defined as a physiological change in the brain. Those who battle with this crippling disorder regularly experience a myriad of symptoms that often trigger other symptoms.
- Smell sensitivity
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Light sensitivity
- Eye pain
- Sound sensitivity
- Head pain
- Auras
- Often a warning sign that a migraine may be on its way.
- They are described as blurred vision around your normal range of view. Imagine if the Northern Lights were dancing within arms reach of you.
- Pain may or may not accompany the aura.
- Auras can be quite frightening for someone who has never had one, as they mimic the signs of a stroke, such as numbness or tingling on one side of the body.
TREATMENT
Over the counter medications are not always effective on migraines, so patients are routinely prescribed much stronger medications. These medications can leave them feeling tired, “high” and usually with a long list of other unpleasant side effects.
It is essential to listen to your body; it will let you know if a particular treatment is or isn’t working for you.
There are a few basic things that everyone should do (not just headache sufferers), to help reduce inflammation, pain, and the chance of headaches reoccurring.
- Stay hydrated. To be adequately hydrated, drink at least half of your weight in fluid ounces of water every day (If you weigh 180lbs, you need at least 90floz of water per day). Add 8oz more for every caffeine or alcohol beverage and for every hour of exercise.
- Choose healthy foods. There are many fad diets out there, remember, listen to your body and choose whole foods that make you feel good. Avoid inflammatory foods like sugar, caffeine, and alcohol.
- Mild to moderate exercise can help loosen up those stiff muscles and get the blood pumping to your brain, releasing stress. Don’t overdo it, though, and talk to your health care practitioner if you haven’t exercised in some time.
In addition to those fundamental everyday things, there are also alternative treatments that have had great success in reducing the pain of migraines.
Participating regularly in a routine of yoga and meditation and receiving regular Reiki treatments has proved to reduce a person’s stress exponentially.
Where there is pain in our physical body, there is an energy (Chi, Life Force), blockage in our ethereal body. Try to visualize for a moment, your nervous system. Neurons are firing; synapses are snapping and sending signals throughout your body. They tell you to move your finger, or scratch your nose and command the endocrine system to excrete the appropriate hormones.
Now, picture your nervous system as a network of rivers and streams carrying those messages from your brain. Imagine, at the center of this network, from the base of your spine to the crown of your head, are seven paddle wheels (Chakras), that spin as our chi ebbs and flows through them.
When they are all spinning at peak performance, we feel unstoppable and full of life and vitality.
We are balanced. But we become equally unbalanced if there are energy blockages (usually emotional pain), that prevent our life force from flowing freely. The paddle wheels slow, our chi becomes stagnant, and as a result, physical pain rears its ugly head once again.
In her book Heal Your Body, Louise Hay(link to amazon reviews) implies that for every type of…
Click here to read this complete article.
