How to Stop Headaches

Let’s talk about headaches for a minute. Most of us get them. There are also multiple causes or reasons that they occur: stress, dehydration, hunger, etc. And even different types of headaches ie. Migraines, tension, frontal. I think we can all agree that they suck, and we want to know how to get rid of them as fast as possible or even prevent them from occurring in the first place.

Dehydration and hunger

One of the most common and luckily the easiest to remedy. These are usually the ones that happen to me. Remedy: drink a couple glasses of water and have a snack. But understand it will take about an hour for it to kick in. 

To prevent them for reoccurring make sure you drink plenty throughout the day. Now the recommendation used to be eight-8 oz glasses of water a day. But that is only if you are not active and exercise regularly. If you are getting the recommended daily dose of exercise then 11.5 cups for women and 15.5 cups for men is best, due to the amount of water you lose during physical activity. 

I always have a water bottle with me throughout the day especially at work. My rule of thumb to make sure I get enough water (with a 24 oz bottle) is 1 bottle in the morning, 1 with lunch, 2 in the afternoon/dinner, and then 1 while I exercise. 

Stress headaches

Obviously, we cannot completely get rid of our stress but, if you figure out how please let me know. Stress or tension headaches are usually located in the back of the head and travel down to the neck. 

Most people hold their stress in their neck and shoulders. Best way to combat these and prevent them from happening is to make sure you have good posture throughout the day, especially if you work on a computer (see my post about postural stretching and strengthening https://moveyourashpt.com/?p=195).

Exercises for headaches

If you do happen to get one of these headaches here is a list of good stretches to do to help get rid of them:

Upper trapezius: Grab the top of your head a pull towards your shoulder, hold the bottom of the chair with the other hand. You will feel a stretch on the side of your neck to the shoulder of the opposite side you pull your head.

Levator scapula: Turn your head to one side, use that same arm to pull your head in downward position. This stretch should be felt behind your neck to the shoulder blade. The opposite arm is again holding the chair. I call this stretch the smell your arm pit stretch to help patients understand a little more the position they will be in.

Suboccipital: Place the index and middle finger on the base of your skull. Push upward, tilting chin down to the chest. You will feel a stretch in the base of the skull just under your fingers and down the neck.

Hold these stretches for 30 seconds and complete 3 times on each side.

All of these stretches should feel comfortable. If it hurts, you are pulling or pushing too hard. Relax the stretch a little bit until it is comfortable. The important thing to remember and what I tell every patient when teaching them how to perform the stretch is the stretch should feel “strong but comfortable”. 

To help with these headaches, I also recommend putting a heating pad on your neck following the stretches or do the stretches in a hot shower. 

Migraine headaches

The absolute worst type. I have had a few of these in my life and they put me out for most of the day when they do happen. The first ones I had required medication to get rid of, but I am not a fan of taking pills. So after doing some research, I found another way of getting a migraine to go away: put your feet in warm water and at the same time put an ice pack on your neck. Relax in this position for 15-20 minutes. 

Acupressure

One of the greatest things I have learned in my college career was the Acupressure point to help with most headaches. In facial bones, there are several foramen (openings) in the bones that are present to allow for nerves to attach to the muscles of the face. There are two specific ones above the eyes at about the point of the mid eyebrows called the supraorbital foramen.

Applying pressure along the eyebrows from the nose to the temples will cause a mild numbing of the nerves decreasing the headache. When my husband has a headache, I will massage his neck and apply that pressure to his eyebrows (he always tells me his headache reduces or completely goes away after about a 10 minutes).

No matter what type of headache you get, one of these should help you decrease or get rid of it.