Tension Headaches
The most common type, tension headaches account for about 90 percent of all headaches. Some people describe them as a band of pressure or tightness around the head, at the back of the neck or at the base of the skull. Some can last weeks, months - even years. To help prevent them:
- Reduce stress by planning ahead and allowing yourself some relaxation time each day
- Improve your posture by sitting with your back straight and thighs parallel to the floor to relieve tension on other muscles and bones
- Relax sore muscles by applying heat or ice packs, or massaging them with your fingertips
Migraine Headaches
Migraines cause intense, throbbing pain on one side of the head with or without nausea, vomiting or sensitivity to light and sound. You may also have warning signs, such as flashing lights or loss of parts of your vision, before the pain starts. Migraines can have many causes, with prevention improved by these tips:
- Avoid aged cheeses, nuts, beans, chocolate, red wine or foods that contain caffeine, nitrates and MSG
- Don't work in poor lighting
- Reduce stress as much as possible
- Get plenty of sleep each night
- Exercise regularly under a doctor's guidance
Cluster Headaches
Cluster headaches affect mostly men and mostly at night. Like migraines, cluster headaches follow changes in the brain's blood flow. Unlike migraines, they last less than an hour but occur in predictable "clusters" in which they may strike several times a day for three to eight weeks. Cluster headaches produce extremely severe pain, incapacitating victims even more than migraines. But cluster headaches can enter long periods of remission, especially in those who:
- Avoid aged cheeses, nuts, beans, chocolate, red wine or foods that contain caffeine, nitrates and MSG
- Don't work in poor lighting
- Reduce stress as much as possible
- Get plenty of sleep each night
- Exercise regularly under a doctor's guidance
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