Headache

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Headache

Life is often a pain in the neck, right? And stress keeps going up, right? Then it stands to reason that the stresses of your neck-paining life have but one place to go--up into that already fragile space between your ears.

That means headache. And you know what that means, because headaches affect almost everyone. In fact, Americans spend more than $400 million a year on over-the-counter pain relievers, says Seymour Diamond, M.D., executive director of the National Headache Foundation and director of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago. But before you spend yet another buck on pills that put down pain, here's how to head off headaches the drug-free way.

Apply ice to your head. Placing ice on your head while it hurts is one of the fastest and most effective ways to end a headache. "In fact, if you can get the headache when it's a dull throb, close to 80 percent of people can abort their headaches," according to Fred Sheftell, M.D., director of the New England Center for Headache in Stamford, Connecticut, and coauthor of Headache Relief. To put the deep freeze on your headache, he recommends placing an ice pack wrapped in a towel, a bag of frozen vegetables or a specially made product called an ice pillow (available at most drugstores) on your forehead or on top of your head when you first notice any pain.

Try some heat on your neck. When neck muscles tighten because of stress and reduced blood flow to the brain, the result is tension headache. Heat helps by soothing muscles and increasing blood supply. "Placing heat on the back of the head is great for relieving the pressure that accompanies tension headaches," says Glen Solomon, M.D., a headache specialist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland and associate professor of medicine at Ohio State University in Columbus. He recommends a heating pad, a long hot shower (turn the spray to the back of your neck) or a hot bath.

Take a load off. "Probably the simplest thing you can do to feel better is go to a dark, quiet room and lie down," adds Dr. Solomon. "That's because any kind of movement can aggravate a headache, and anything you can do to keep those neck muscles from tightening will help." Why a dark and quiet room? Because headaches--even small ones--make you more sensitive to light and noise. "In fact, most people seem to prefer total silence to even soft, soothing music," says Dr. Solomon.

Give yourself a scalp massage. To soothe that aching head, try massaging your scalp with your fingertips as if you were washing your hair Another technique: Place a natural-bristle hairbrush at your temple, just above the eyebrow, and slowly move it toward the back of your head in slow circles. This massage helps ease tension and bring relief.

Dim the lights. Often headaches are caused by eyestrain that people get from watching a lot of television or staring at a computer screen. If your eyes get a real workout during the day, take this tip from Dr. Sheftell: "Every few hours, take off your glasses or contact lenses and place your palms over your eyes to completely block out the light. Look at that darkness for 30 seconds." Before you take your hands away, close your eyes. Then lower your hands and slowly reopen your eyes.

How to Fly without Headache Air travel can take you to new heights of headache. The pain is often caused by the hours of sitting in an awkward position and stressing your neck muscles. But here's how to avoid it. "I personally use one of those inflated neck pillows whenever I travel," says Seymour Diamond, M.D., executive director of the National Headache Foundation and director of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago. "They're great for protecting against the headache you can get from sitting in an uncomfortable airline seat--and they cost only about $10."

Head for the gym. Although it's not advised to exercise once a headache starts, "many find they avoid headaches or lessen their severity with a regular exercise program," says Dr. Diamond. That's because exercise is an excellent stress reducer. (If you find that exercise induces headaches, however, be sure to see your doctor.)

Press on. "You can 'massage' away headaches by pressing on certain acupressure spots," says Dr. Sheftell. "One way is to squeeze the web of skin between your thumb and forefinger. Another area is the tiny ridge between your neck and the back of your head (approximately parallel with your earlobes)."

If you don't get relief after 10 or 15 minutes of rubbing those areas, try rubbing some other parts of your body: the top of your foot, in the area between your big and second toe; the outside area of your shin just below the knee; or your Achilles tendon.

Roll your noggin. Dr. Sheftell suggests starting off each day by doing ten slow neck rolls in each direction. "Just let your neck muscles go limp and let your chin hit your chest," he says. "Then just rotate your head all around to loosen up your neck muscles." But be gentle: Doing it too fast or too vigorously could cause additional strain.

Or roll in the hay. "Not tonight, I have a headache'' should be "Yes! Tonight! I have a headache!" Research done at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine shows that women can get full or partial headache relief from having intercourse. (Sorry, guys, but researchers don't have data on how it affects you.)

Sleep on your back. "Headaches can be caused by sleeping in an awkward position--even on your stomach--because the muscles in your neck contract," says Dr. Diamond. "Sleeping on your back is the best thing you can do, but many of my patients who are restless sleepers find relief with a Walpin pillow (named for its inventor), which is hollowed in the middle to help your neck." The Wal-Pil-O, a standard-size pillow designed to relieve neck stress, is available at some drugstores and surgical supply stores.

Lighten up your lighting. It could be that the cause of your headache is over your head--literally. That's because fluorescent lights--the most popular choice of lighting in most offices (and gaining popularity in homes)--appear to be "on" all the time, but they actually flicker about 60 times a second. This constant flickering, though not noticeable, fatigues the brain, causing headaches, according to Robert A. Baron, Ph.D., an industrial psychologist and professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, who has done extensive research on how lighting affects mood and health. If you think fluorescent bulbs might be causing your headaches, try out a table lamp with an incandescent bulb for a couple of days. If that makes a big difference, replace fluorescent lights with incandescent lighting or table lamps.

When Caffeine Helps a Headache Having a cup of coffee or tea with your aspirin provides better relief than aspirin alone. In fact, caffeine can boost the pain-relieving powers of aspirin by about one-third, according to research published in the medical journal Archives of Internal Medicine. "Caffeine can be very helpful, because it constricts blood vessels," says Fred Sheftell, M.D., director of the New England Center for Headache in Stamford, Connecticut, and coauthor of Headache Relief. "In fact, most aspirin products have a fair amount of caffeine in them." But Dr. Sheftell recommends limiting your intake of caffeine to about 200 milligrams a day-the amount in two five-ounce cups (not mugs) of coffee. And avoid using more than two aspirin tablets a day. And if you're a coffee drinker during the week, don't stop drinking it on weekends or you'll risk a real head splitter. "That's because even one day of skipping is enough to trigger a caffeine withdrawal headache," according to Glen Solomon, M.D., a headache specialist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland and associate professor of medicine at Ohio State University in Columbus.

Stand tall. Posture plays a key role in tension headaches. "It's the same problem as sleeping in an awkward position," adds Dr. Diamond. He recommends that you avoid leaning or tilting your head to one side, since your neck muscles contract when you're in these positions.

Avoid high-altitude headache. If you're headed for a vacation in the high Rockies or Peruvian Andes, you may be at risk for high-altitude headache. You may help avoid a headache by taking 3,000 to 5,000 milligrams of vitamin C the day before you leave and one each day when visiting, advises Seymour Solomon, M.D., director of the Headache Unit at Montefiore Medical Center and professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, both in New York City. Also, take two aspirin tablets each day, beginning the day you depart (but remember not to give aspirin to children because of the risk of Reye's syndrome).