Drug-Free Headache Relief: Small Lifestyle Changes Could Conquer Your Pain
by Dr. Mark Wiley
For the 41 million Americans who suffer from headaches each year, powerful drugs - many with dangerous side effects - are the standard treatment. Fortunately, other options are available. But you probably won't hear about them from your medical doctor.
The first step is to consult your primary care physician to rule out an underlying medical cause, such as meningitis or a brain tumor. Then try my seven drug-free steps, which I created to treat my own chronic headaches. Most people start to see results by the end of the first week. If you can cut out all triggers, your headaches, including tension headaches and migraines, should be gone after two weeks.
1. Breathe Deeply
Most of us breathe shallowly. The resulting low oxygen levels force blood vessels to widen in an effort to allow more blood flow through them, which can cause headaches. To bring fresh air deep into your lungs, practice an abdominal breathing exercise three times daily...
What to do: Lie on your back, knees bent and feet flat on the floor about a foot away from your buttocks. Rest your low back on the floor. Inhale deeply, allowing your abdomen to rise. Exhale, fully expelling air from your lungs as you abdomen sinks. Repeat 12 times.
2. Drink Plenty of Water
Keeping well-hydrated helps cleanse the colon and flush the kidneys, clearing headache-inducing toxins from the body. Only water can do this - not caffeinated coffees and teas, herbal teas or sugary sodas and fruit drinks. However: Not all water is fit to drink. Tap water may contain heavy metals, chemical toxins or naturally occurring contaminants, so stick to bottled spring or filtered water.
What to do: Aim to drink two quarts of bottled or filtered water daily. This should keep your urine light-colored or clear.
3. Eliminate Food Triggers
Certain foods are well-known as headache triggers - alcohol (especially red wine)...caffeine...dairy products...processed and preserved meats (cold cuts, beef jerky)...dried fruits...food containing the amino acid tyramine (aged cheese, pickled foods)...chocolate...and the sweetener aspartame.
What to do: Eliminate all suspected food triggers from your diet for two weeks. Add them back one at a time, waiting a day before adding each new one. If you develop a headache, eliminate the food indefinitely.
Also helpful: Eat smaller, frequent meals - a one-third-sized portion every three hours - to prevent headaches due to overeating and extreme blood sugar fluctuations. Take a daily multivitamin that includes the B vitamins, which help prevent headaches.
4. Flush Out Toxins
When we take in more chemicals from food, water and drugs than our bodies can handle, they build up (causing constipation) and interfere with proper functioning of the liver, colon and lungs. The result can be headaches.
What to do: Avoid constipation by eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables and drinking plenty of water.
Also helpful: Fast up to four times a year to give your digestive system a rest. A fast typically lasts one to three days and includes only liquids - water...fresh, organic fruit or vegetable juices... and/or broth.
Important: You may experience a headache on the first or second day. Be patient, it will pass.
5. Tame Stress with Meditation
Stress is a potent headache trigger. It also provokes lifestyle choices that cause chronic headaches--eating unhealthful foods, drinking alcohol and/or caffeine and taking painkillers. To short-circuit the effects of stress, I practice mindfulness meditation.
What to do: Sit or lie with your spine straight and head aligned. Close your eyes and take a deep breath through your nose. Then focus on your breath as it passes into and out of your nose. Repeat a few times. If thoughts enter your mind, release them without passing judgement. Practice daily for at least 15 minutes.
6. Stay Active
Exercise reduces stress and improves blood flow, which helps prevent headaches. Recommended exercises...
Brisk walking: Set aside some time each day, preferably up to 30 minutes, to walk at a brisk pace. Keep your mind clear of stressful thoughts by focusing on your breathing or on the sensation of your big toe lifting off the ground.
Qigong standing: For this ancient Chinese exercise, which increases blood flow and strengthens muscles, stand with your legs shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Bend both arms at the elbow, forming a 90-degree angle. Keep your forearms parallel to the ground, palms facing down. Visualize that your arms are floating on water. Quiet your mind by letting thoughts pass without judgement. Breathe at a steady pace. Perform for five minutes, working up to a total of 40 minutes.
What to do: Perform each exercise daily until your headaches stop. Then do one or the other each day as a preventative strategy.
7. Cultivate a Deep Sleep
To battle insomnia, eliminate caffeinated drinks after 6pm and keep a note pad by your bed. When your mind races with things that need to be done, write them down. This should make it easier to let them go until morning. Also, practice progressive relaxation at bedtime.
What to do: While lying on your back with arms at your sides, inhale fully for four seconds and exhale for eight seconds. Repeat 10 times, then resume normal breathing. Mentally focus on the toes of one leg. Will each toes to relax, maintaining your focus until the toe relaxes - it may begin to tingle or feel numb. Then relax to sole, ankle, calf and so on up to the hips. Do the same with the other leg - and with each part of the body.
More information on how to cure your headaches without drugs, and the studies to support it, can be found in my book Outwitting Headaches and also on the website
Best of luck!