5-Minute Crafts
5-Minute Crafts

How to Stop a Headache

Health
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Although we all experience headaches from time to time, they can seriously affect the quality of our lives. Luckily, in most cases, you can treat your headaches at home, and 5-Minute Crafts will show you some tips on how to do it effectively.

Warning: You should get immediate medical care if:

  • You have a sudden and severe headache.
  • The headache occurs along with dizziness, speech problems, and confusion.
  • Your headache doesn’t stop or actually gets worse after some time.

Define your type of headache.

  • Migraines cause a throbbing pain that is usually localized in the area behind your eyes and temples and pulses throughout your head.
  • Hypertension headaches occur on both sides of your head, have a pulsating quality, and typically get worse with any activity. They often come along with pain or pressure in the back of your neck.
  • Tension (or stress) headaches usually feel like a dull pain, tightness, or pressure around your forehead and the back of your head and neck as if there’s a tight rubber band around your head.
  • Sinus headaches occur when your sinuses get inflamed and feel like a deep and constant pain in your cheekbones, forehead, or the bridge of your nose. The pain usually gets stronger when you quickly move your head.
  • Cluster headaches cause a stabbing, sharp pain that occurs in one spot of your head, usually behind or near one eye.

Choose the treatment.

1. Turn off the light and rest.

What to do:

  • Turn off the lights in your room and cover your windows with blackout curtains.
  • Sit or lie down with your eyes closed and relax for a bit.

This works for:

2. Do a breathing exercise.

What to do:

  • Find a quiet place with a comfortable chair.
  • Sit down and take a slow breath in for 5 seconds.
  • Then breathe out for 5 seconds.
  • Do this exercise for some time.
  • While breathing, you can also visualize a peaceful image.

This works for:

  • Tension headaches
  • Cluster headaches

3. Apply a hot compress.

What to do:

  • Take a heating pad or a bottle filled with hot water and place it on your neck or the back of your head.
  • For a sinus headache, take a warm cloth and hold it on the area that hurts.
  • You can also take a hot bath or shower.

This works for:

  • Tension headaches
  • Sinus headaches

4. Apply a cold compress.

What to do:

  • Take an ice pack (or a plastic bag filled with ice and wrapped in a soft towel) and apply it to the back of your neck, head, forehead, or temples.
  • Hold it there for about 15 minutes.

This works for:

5. Try self-massage.

What to do:

  • Massage your temples, jaw, neck, and shoulders with your fingertips.
  • Additionally, massage the area between your eyebrows and the 2 spots at the base of each eyebrow on either side of the bridge of your nose.

This works for:

6. Drink water.

What to do:

  • Drink plenty of water and other liquids during the day to reduce the severity of your headache caused by dehydration.

This works for:

7. Have a cup of coffee.

What to do:

  • Have some coffee or tea with a little caffeine in it.

This works for:

❗ Don’t drink too much caffeine as it can lead to withdrawal headaches.

8. Sip on ginger tea.

What to do:

  • Get yourself a cup of tea made of warm water and some ginger powder.

This works for:

9. Use essential oils.

What to do:

  • Apply a few drops of peppermint essential oil to your temples to get rid of tension or hypertension headaches.
  • Apply some lavender essential oil to your upper lip and inhale to get rid of a migraine.

This works for:

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5-Minute Crafts/Health/How to Stop a Headache
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