How to deal with headaches
Headache is one of the most common symptoms which every human being experiences. Headaches generate a lot of anxiety, owing to the associated fear of diseases such as brain tumor. One must know the red flags for a sinister headache, which are as follows:
Severe headache which progresses rapidly.
Accompanied fever, irrelevant talk, drowsiness, double vision, recurrent projectile vomiting, slurring of speech, weakness in any limb or difficulty in walking.
Most of the chronic headaches are not caused by life-endangering diseases, but they affect the quality of life, and this can lead to depression and can have negative impact on personal and professional life. Migraine and tensions constitute the bulk of headache patients in a neurology clinic. Tension Type Headache (TTH) is associated with a gripping sensation or heaviness anywhere in head, nape of neck and shoulders. It is commonly associated with depression and anxiety. Tension Type Headache tends to persist for longer periods of time. Migraine on the other hand appears like a bolt from the blue with or without a warning symptoms such as blurring of vision and giddiness. It is associated with a throbbing headache nausea, vomiting, dislike for light and sound. They tend to happen as episodes. It is when such migrainous episodes happen more than once a week, the question is — do we introduce migraine preventive medication or else we treat the episodes with suitable pain killer?
One has to rule out toothache, jaw joint diseases, ear infections, cervical spine diseases, bleed inside brain, excessive use of substances and medications particularly pain killers and alcohol. These are known as secondary headaches. Certain lifestyle modifications are helpful in preventing and reducing headaches:
Exercise, relaxation, meditation and quiet environment helps in TTH as well as migraine.
Professionals who work for long hours on desk jobs should take intermittent breaks for 10-15 minutes and gently move their neck and shoulders to reduce spasm.
Patients suffering from migraine should avoid exposure to bright sunlight,erratic sleep timing, prolonged fasting or delayed meals, Chinese food too much of tea, coffee and cola drinks, preserved food and alcohol.
Strong odours as well as direct exposure of head and face to cold or hot can also trigger or increase headache frequency. Disclaimer: The veracity of any health claim made in the above article is the responsibility of the concerned hospital/doctor.