Actually having to do schoolwork getting you down? Stressed? If you have headaches and don’t feel like taking more Advil and can’t spare the time for a nap, check out these three easy ways to help ease your headache woes – from home!
1. Progressive Relaxation
(Photo: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RC9s…)
According to Discoveryhealth.com, a big cause of headaches is tension. One way to help rid yourself of that nagging pain is to do what they call “progressive relaxation.” The idea is that you tighten muscles and relax them for certain periods of time in order to get your muscles to fully relax. You may think your muscles are already relaxed, but tensing them and releasing can draw out all of the excess tension that you were unaware of. Use the steps below to help get rid of your headache. (PS. I recommend you do this in a private place because you could scare people away.)
1. Scrunch up then release your forehead muscles (furrow your brow)
2. Squeeze your eyes tightly closed, then open them slowly
3. Make a wide smile, then allow it to fade
4. Clench your jaw, then relax it
5. Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth, then let it fall back down
6. Press your lips tightly together, then relax them
7. Press your head against the floor or back of the chair, then relax
8. Shrug your shoulders, bringing them as close as you can to your ears, then relax
For more information about headaches visit Discoveryhealth.com.
2. Heat and/or Cooling
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Another way to ease headache pain is to use heat and/or cooling. Health.com says that if you have a headache that seems to be the product of muscle tightness in the neck, take a warm compress and hold it on the back of your neck to relieve the tension. However, if your headache is pulsing, (we’ve all had those), use ice. Health.com says to ice the temples because there is an artery that supplies blood to the brain that “sits behind the thin bone at the temple.” There has been success alleviating headache pain by lowering the temperature of the blood moving through that artery.
For more tips on using hot and/or cold to help a headache, visit Health.com.
3. Footbath
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As weird and counter-intuitive as it may seem, a warming footbath is what Abcnews.com recommends to help cure a headache. They say that the “hot water causes your body to redistribute blood from one concentrated area—your throbbing head—and get it flowing all over.” The article also suggests adding some mustard powder to the mix. Apparently, mustard powder contains essential oils that further stimulate your skin and therefore further distract you from your headache pain. Mustard powder is available at most supermarkets.
For more recommendations on how to ease headache pain go to Abcnews.com.
I hope these tips were helpful! Feel free to leave comments below or email me at bgrief@tulane.edu.
–B.