Dr. Mark Wiley | Feb 22, 2012 | Comments 5
Headache misery doesn’t have to ruin your life. Adopt a proactive attitude and take control of the roots of your pain, and you can eliminate headache triggers. That enables you to discover a new, improved, pain-free life.Dismiss Your Triggers
The headache triggers I discussed last week (here) include: oxygen deprivation (often from shallow breathing), dehydration (insufficient water), poor diet (foods your body can’t handle), improper exercise and rest, uneven muscle development, poor posture, stress, poor self-image and attitude.
You may be tempted to discount the usefulness of knowing about these triggers in fighting headaches. In the past, for example, you may have been told to remove all headache-causing foods from your diet and thought it was irrelevant. Not so. These foods do have an effect. The secret to understanding these triggers is recognizing how they cause you problems in combination with each other.
True And False
Yes, it is true that all of the above are known headache triggers. It is also true that not all of them cause headaches for you. That should be good news. But what you need to work out for yourself is which of these triggers set off your headaches and in what combination. This takes a bit of effort and commitment on your part, but is well worth it in the end. Trust me. Here’s what I want you to do:
Consider each of the trigger categories, and choose one to work on for a week. If you start with oxygen deprivation, then make that your focus for each hour of each day for a week. Make sure your home and office are well-ventilated. Make a point of stopping what you are doing every hour to inhale deeply and take full breaths. Do your best to sleep in a way that does not disrupt the flow of air into your nose. See how you feel and make notes.
Then, next week, continue your oxygen program on auto-pilot. It should be in a self-sustaining groove so you can now focus for an entire week on hydration. This includes drinking two glasses of room temperature water each morning. You should also avoid diuretic beverages for the week (coffee, tea, soda, alcohol and beer). Drink enough water throughout the day so that your urine is clear in color every time you relieve yourself. Be sure to hydrate after exercise. Again, see how you feel, take notes and then move on to changing your diet and so on.
Know Your Number
After you have spent six weeks on these kinds of measures (one week for each trigger component), you should feel amazing. However, I know that many headache sufferers are in great pain and are on the verge of giving up hope. Even if you have not done the above mini-program, there is still hope – if you can count.
Not all known headache triggers cause headaches in every person who gets headaches. Coffee may cause an instant headache in one person while another can drink an entire pot with no pain. This leads many to dismiss the list of triggers and to think that their headaches are somehow special and unique. Again, they are not.
The secret to applying the trigger prevention method is to know your number. That is, every headache sufferer has a certain number of triggers his body can handle or process in a given day without problem. However, once that number is passed, you may be hit with a headache. For me, that crucial number is three.
On any given day, my body can safely handle three triggers. If I stay within that number, I will not get a headache. However, if I encounter four or more triggers, I am in pain almost immediately.
For example, if I decide to start my day with coffee and add sugar and milk (three of my triggers), I need to be extra mindful of the rest of my daily activities and choices. If I wake up with clogged sinuses (a trigger) and want coffee, then I drink it black. This allows me to remain headache-free, even if I incur one more trigger during the day. If the day is stressful, which I may not have control over, that’s my third trigger. If I allow a fourth, I am out for the count with head pain.
Your number, then, is a threshold not to be passed. Everyone has a different number, but most are fewer than five. If you are able to stay within your daily number, you can prevent your headaches and thus be “cured” of them. When you surpass your number and get a headache, at least you’ll know the cause and not be fooled into believing that you have no control over them or that they are unbeatable.
Beneficial Corrections
Take a shot at eliminating headache triggers and find your number. If you can spend six weeks correcting these triggers, then you will be in a better place for change. If you can’t do that kind of six-week program, then keep a diary of your choices, activities and foods each day, numbering them and associating those numbers with headache intensity. That enables you to learn how to prevent them.
Most headaches are preventable because we bring them on ourselves. Stop hurting yourself, be kinder to yourself and know your number. Here’s to your headache-free life!
http://www.easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/how-to-live-headache-free/
