Headaches and Migraines can be chronic ailments that can impact routine activities for few individuals. There are advanced medications that can be helpful to treat and prevent migraines. But some people chose to use natural treatments as alternatives before opting for these medications or to aid the medical treatments. Keep reading below to know some of the effective ways to prevent migraines.
Chose a soothing environment:
If you are suffering from severe migraine, take a break from whatever the routine tasks and rest for a while if possible.
Migraines are usually more sensitive to light and sound. Hence, try to relax in a quiet and dark setting.
A cold or hot compress can be highly beneficial to the neck and head. Hot packs can relax the stiff muscles while cold packs will numb the target region lowering the pain. You can even go for hot baths and showers to ease the discomfort.
Some people get comfort from drinking coffee as it can be helpful in the early stages of migraine. But consuming too much coffee can lead to adverse effects in later stages. Some people will also experience a lack of sleep by consuming too many caffeine drinks, which will again trigger migraines.
Sleep well:
- Migraines have the chances of causing sleep disorder or make you wake you up all night. Another way round, some people are triggered to migraine issues by lack of sleep. Below are some tips to encourage sound sleep.
- Make a habit of following a strict sleep routine of going to bed at the same time every day. Even naps during the day must be short and must not interrupt your regular sleeping patterns during the night.
- Go for activities that soothe your mind and encourages sleep. Read your favorite book, take a warm bath or listen to your loveable music.
- Be careful about your drinking and eating habits especially nearing your sleeping time. Some people are affected by excess meals, caffeine, alcohol, nicotine consumption during the day.
- Have a soothing environment in your sleeping room. Never take your professional or any kind of work item to a sleeping bed.
- Never try so hard to induce sleep, as it will keep you awake. If you are not getting sleep, perform any quiet activity until you feel sleepy.
- Some medications are also culprits of keeping you awake as they will interfere with your sleeping patterns.
Pay attention to your diet:
Some foods and drinks can start headaches and migraines, such as red wine, chocolate, artificial sweeteners, processed meats, cheese, etc.
It is key that you identify which food will trigger the headache and try to avoid them. Foods and drinks with alcohol and caffeine are major triggers. If you cannot avoid them completely, try to limit their consumption. Follow certain basics like
Follow a consistent and regular eating pattern for the day.
Never skip your meals as it can trigger migraines easily.
Keeping a track of your diet will help you in identifying the foods that trigger migraines.
Regular Exercise:
Exercise will help in releasing essential chemicals that block the pain signals to the brain. These chemicals will also aid in reducing depression and anxiety — which can increase the effect of migraines. Obesity also enhances the problem of chronic headaches. Maintaining a healthy weight via exercise and diet can offer extra advantages in handling migraines. Speak to your doctor and chose the best mode of exercise to relax and also promote healthy living. It is also important to start your exercises gradually as strenuous exercise all of a sudden can also enhance migraine problems.
Stress management:
- Stress and migraines are directly proportional to each other. While you may not be able to avoid daily stress, but you can control it to reduce your migraine issues.
- Do not try to fill in too many thoughts in your daily life, find a plan to follow a relaxing regimen.
- Make good management of time both at home and professional life. Divide the large tasks into smaller chunks to be done one at a time.
- Take a break at regular intervals to renew your enthusiasm for all the activities.
- Stay calm yet positive in all the activities which make the job half done.
- Make time to do something enthusiastic for at least some time during your routine. Keep some interesting hobbies according to your passion which is important to manage stress and have a relaxing time even during the day filled with pressure.
- Breathing deeply is an activity that is neglected by most of the working professionals in their busy lives. Concentrate on a correct breathing process that will help you in relaxing from the daily stress. Ensure to follow this soothing and simple exercise for some time during your day for guaranteed outcomes.
Keep a migraine diary
A diary will aid you to know all aspects that trigger your migraines. Write down the starting point of your migraines, what was your activity at the time, how long did the trigger last, and if in case any activity provided relief. Traditionally, avoiding migraine triggers was thought to be the best advice. But new studies have shown that it may enhance the sensitivity to possible triggers. So, a valuable approach may be to progressively expose to migraine triggers and understand to manage them by employing beneficial techniques. These may comprise recognizing and resolving undesirable thoughts and finding the best relaxing techniques. A combination of your progressive approach and suggestions from doctors will be the best strategy to solve the problem.
Final thoughts:
Living with headaches and migraines is a daily challenge, making strong routine habits and natural remedies may help you in some way. But if you are not finding any success with such natural ways, then it calls for a proper medical diagnosis and treatment from a reliable center like Cache Valley ENT. With qualified professionals and comprehensive facilities, we offer evaluation and customized treatment to solve your headaches and migraines effectively.