How to cure headaches!

Do you have a headache!
All of us must have had an experience with a headache at one time or another, and it felt so bad that you could not stand talking to anybody not to your spouse, children or anybody else, and was so painful that you wanted it to stop at once. A lot of us just reach for a bottle of over the counter pain pills. The medical approach for headaches is “why” what is the cause before you just medicate it away. It is extremely important to make sure you don’t have a medical reason for your headache.
Two populations are at risk the elderly and pregnant women. As we age our bodies are less efficient resulting in a higher blood pressure. High blood pressure can be a precursor to stroke. Thankfully, our bodies can alert us to the problem with a headache. So first if you have a headache especially recurrent headaches not related to stress and lack of sleep, check your blood pressure. When I went to nursing school in 1975 the rules for blood pressure were different than they are now. We were taught that 120/80 was the perfect blood pressure and that 140/90 was the blood pressure to treat. In this millennium we have discovered that a blood pressure of 100/70 is probably even better. This will of course, depend on a lot of risk factors and recommendations of your doctor. But anyone consistently having a blood pressure of 140/90 needs to check it out and talk to their doctor.
The next population is the pregnant woman elevated blood pressure in a pregnant woman can lead to seizures and even death to the woman or her fetus. The first sign of elevated blood pressure in a pregnant woman is also a headache. So everybody needs to make sure a medical reason is not the cause of their headache.
But have you ever wondered are their other things I can do for a headache besides over the counter medications. Yes, you can.
A lot of lay people do not realize there are dangers in over the counter medications. People think because the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) allows these medications to be sold without a prescription that they are safe. But they are only safe if used as directed. For instance acetaminophen (Tylenol, brand name) 500mg two tablets can be taken every 4 hours but you can only take 4 doses in a day, more than that can cause liver damage. The United States has had a tremendous increase in people needing a liver transplant; a lot of this could be due to alcohol abuse but it could also be due to the innocent overuse of over the counter medications. Also other medications may contain acetaminophen all doses must be added together to not go over 4 grams in a day or 4000 mg.
Another over the counter medication abused for headaches and other pain is ibuprophen (commonly sold as Motrin or Advil), our bodies need time to clear this medication out of our system. It comes in 200mg as an over the counter medication. If you take 2 tablets then your kidneys need 4 hours to clear it out. If you take 3 tablets your kidneys need 6 hours to clear it out. By taking larger and more frequent doses we are doing great damage to our kidneys. Again as a nation we have a tremendous number of people waiting for kidney transplants.
Back to “why” you came to read this article. What can we do to cure headaches without possibly causing more permanent damage to ourselves? Check out your lifestyle are you getting enough sleep? These are stressful times in this economy, what are you doing about stress? Just a few slow deep breaths in to a count of three and out to a count of three, can really slow down that “fight or flight” response to stress. It can not only relieve pain but make you live longer. You can do this up to 20 minutes for pain relief but its recommended you get in a comfortable position for this long a session. Another really effective but almost silly sounding thing to do for a session of deep breathing lasting more than a few seconds; try to imagine that you are lying in the sun on the beach. Don’t laugh until you try it.
Commonly a headache can be brought on by dehydration. It is recommended that most people need about 8 to 10 glasses of water a day. Drinking caffeine does not make up for the amount of water needed but actually increases the amount needed. Some studies say larger people need even more water. After all our cells are predominantly made up of water. When we don’t drink enough water our bodies will hang on to what we have causing us (especially it seems women) to be puffy. Often our bodies will signal we need water by a headache. When we give our bodies the water we need a lot of good things happen. If we having been eating too much salt the extra water flushes this out lowering our blood pressure and decreasing swelling as well as relieving our headache.
Another trick for headache relief that I have learned from chiropractors is sitting up straight. Chronic headaches can be from our neck and shoulders. Poor posture and misalignment can greatly increase in the tension in your neck and shoulders. Sitting and standing slumped over is a common problem especially as we age. Also so many of us use computers throughout much of our day; such work is very conducive to slumping. We need to get up and stretch several times a day, squeeze your shoulders backwards together this pulls us up into proper alignment. Another great benefit is people who stand up straighter are perceived to be 10 years younger!
Most people have no idea how slumped they are, try practicing in front of a mirror. My mom who was also a nurse retired at 76 years old; she was shocked to hear a patient referring to her as the hunch back nurse. Now at 87 years young, as she passes a mirror she checks her posture. So should you.
To check your posture look at the details Are your shoulders level? Is your head straight, not tilted to either side. Check your chin is it parallel to the floor? What about your arms are they the same distance? Check out those sexy hips are they level not sloped? Last but not least how about your knees and ankles are they straight. Also look at the bottom of your shoes if they are wearing unevenly your posture especially when walking is off.
Another headache cure which used to only be for women, is watch how you carry things. Always carrying your purse or the strap for your computer bag over the same shoulder creates an imbalance. One fix is to change shoulders frequently or to lighten your load. Another idea is how about carrying it in your hand then you use all the muscles in your arms and not just putting weight on your shoulders. We exercise and strengthen our biceps and forearms but not so much our shoulders.
Headaches are a pain even in an economic way. Lets all do our best to live better and cheaper lives in these hard economic times. Go to the doctor when you need to but lets try to make our lives better so we can save in this area. Try to go to bed at the same time every night. Preferably 8 hours before you have to get up. Plan you day for a healthy lifestyle. We all need 30 minutes of exercise at least 5 days a week but try to get it 3 hours before a planned bedtime. If you have TV shows you don’t want to miss tape them or watch them on the internet at your leisure. Plan your life don’t let it plan you.