Headaches can be crippling. When they persist for a long period of time, they definitely take all the joy out of your life. Headaches and migraines are different but for those who suffer with Migraine, it doesn’t take much for what starts as a headache to quickly move to a full-blown migraine.
Let’s explore some of these types of headaches. They may help you avoid an intense migraine in the future.
Headaches (often leading to Migraine) can be brought on by stress, sinus issues, and changes in vision, weather and food. Whatever the underlying cause may be, figuring out what type of headache you suffer from can help you treat it correctly.
Here are a few types of head pain that may help.
Stress-related pain
If you feel like there is a tight band around your head pushing inwards, then you might be suffering from stress headaches or tension headache. A stress-related headache may even include the stress on your body with causes ranging from bad sitting posture to a lack of sleep.
These types of headaches frequently last anywhere from 15 minutes to a few days. The good news is that these headaches are rarely debilitating, so are unlikely to keep you from work. Most people with this type of headache can go about their daily lives quite simply even while they suffer from this headache. For those of you who suffer with full-blown migraines, very often a headache, in comparison, is something you can handle much more easily.
Your immediate response to this type of head pain may be to reach for that bottle of pain-killers, but some home remedies may offer relief without medication.
• Try applying a cold compress to the head or neck;
• Take a hot shower or bath
• Try some relaxing essential oils like peppermint or lavender
Medication-induced headaches
“All acute pain-relief medicines have the potential of causing medicine induced headaches,” says ENT and head-neck surgeon, Amrita Base Mishra. “If your medicines contain codeine and opioids then they can cause a headache. Though, research has shown that only the people who have a headache disorder seem to develop a medically induced headache.” If you do develop headaches after you take certain medicines, then the best thing you can do is to make a conscious note of those medicines and consult your doctor to find alternatives.
Area-specific pain/ache
This type of headache (or migraine) causes excruciating pain but, typically, only on one side of your head. This type of pain can make you want to bang your head against the wall. With this type of headache or migraine, you probably experience pain in and around the eyes, but the pain can move to other parts of the head as well — including right behind the ears, cheeks, and even into your teeth. These types of “headache” are often referred to as a “cluster headache” and may include sensitivity to sound and light.
Try using a cold eye mask for 10 minutes at a time. This definitely can help with the eye pain and can also relieve the headache pain.
Caffeine withdrawal
If you are already on your second cup of coffee while you’re reading this, or you make it a point to stop at a coffee shop on the way to work, you are probably well aware that missing your morning cup of coffee will bring on a headache. If you consume caffeine regularly, but then miss your morning cup for some reason, chances are you will get a headache. This is what we commonly call a withdrawal headache or caffeine withdrawal headache. Don’t take it lightly. This can be extremely painful.
The best way to treat this type of headache is to slowly taper off caffeine. You can try switching your regular to decaf for your second cup. If you are an avid coffee drinker, then try to skip the second afternoon cup. Have an eventual goal of switching to herbal tea instead.
If you find you just can’t do without your coffee… period, then at the very least, try to reduce the amount you drink.
Brain freeze
Most of us have experienced a brain freeze at some time or another. This involves a sharp and sudden stabbing pain that disappears as quickly as it started. This is usually associated with biting into a piece of ice, drinking a very cold drink, or even eating ice-cream. The cause for this is the sudden increase of blood flow to the brain. Of course, brain freeze type pains are not dangerous and can be easily avoided. Don’t gulp down your ice-cream or cold drink and you should be fine.
If you do experience this, try rubbing the roof of your mouth with your tongue to find relief.
Morning headache
The two most common reasons behind early morning headaches are lack of sleep and hangovers. These, of course, can easily be avoided by changing your lifestyle. However, it could also be a lingering headache/migraine from the previous day. The effect of the medicine would have worn off by morning and your head could start throbbing again.
Don’t forget that dehydration might be another cause behind your headache, especially if you have been drinking alcohol. So when you wake up with a headache drink as much water as you can.
Sinus congestion
When your sinuses are infected or inflamed, they generate more mucous and cause pressure to build up around the whole area. Because of the location of these cavities, the pressure builds up and this causes a deep and constant throbbing pain in your head and around the sinus area. Having experienced this type of headache myself – very often in the past — I realize how easily this type of headache can progress to a migraine.
You might try using a Nettie pot or a saline nasal spray regularly to clear out the sinuses. Breathe (a doTERRA proprietary blend) essential oil and peppermint oil can also be effective.
Migraines
Migraines are characterized by excruciating pain which is felt all around the head and these headaches are often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound. They can also be on one side of the head. While the root cause of a migraine is still unknown, if you regular suffer from migraines then you probably have certain triggers. Anxiety, dehydration, lack of sleep, alcohol consumption, hormonal changes, stress and missing a meal could all trigger a migraine. However, it is important to remember that these triggers do not always cause migraines and avoiding those triggers may not always prevent migraines either.
While the quick treatment is to take a pain killer, there are many natural alternatives that can help prevent migraine or lessen the severity. Check out some of my tips in my book or some of my blogs on my Website about alternative treatments.
One thing we do know is that headaches are quite different to migraines. While a headache is easier for the migraineurs to live with, often a headache will trigger a migraine, so try to treat a headache as quickly as possible.
What do you do to stop a headache triggering a migraine? Comment below.
Very informative! Thanks for taking the time to compile this all together. I, thankfully, do not suffer from migraines, only an occasional headache. It is usually sourced from stress or dehydration. This is just another reason to kick the caffeine completely, though!