Helping Avoid Headaches

I am not a doctor, nurse, LPN or anything else that qualifies me to speak on this subject, other than having had my share of headaches over the years. I don't think I ever had migraines, and this advice probably won't be helpful for those who get true classic migraines. But I have had my share of make-you-so-sick-you-throw-up headaches, including pulling over while driving, leaving a meeting, etc.

And, knock on wood, these last number of years I do not get headaches nearly as often as I used to. My mom used to say I inherited this tendency to bad headaches, because both she and my sister have had excessive headaches. But I have been able to minimize them in the last number of years. Headaches that have no medical basis, and that might benefit from the approach I'm about to describe, probably fall into the category of tension headache (as opposed to those that have some medical basis).

A broader way of looking at this is, here are some ideas for reducing tension you may feel. Note that I didn't say reducing stress, that's another subject. But rather, when you are feeling stressed, how can you relax and reduce tension?As I get older I feel like I am more in touch with my body and its signals and sensations, so that if I feel myself getting tense, I try to do some deep breathing. By this I mean taking a deep breath through the nostrils and then blowing out through the mouth. This brings in fresh oxygen which can be helpful to your body. When my husband, daughter, and I rented a car to see "back country" Europe, the driving situations we encountered were frequently stress- and tension-producing. But I managed to avoid headaches for most of the trip, and I attribute that to this deep breathing technique.

You probably also know the trick of slowly rolling your head around on your neck, and of raising up your shoulders, arching them back, and then bringing your arms to a resting position by your side.I've observed over the years that I frequently get a headache, or the start of one, after a stressful event is over. For instance, I love to entertain, clean the house and fix food, but I used to wake up the morning after with a huge headache. Now I try to catch myself in the midst of the preparation and force myself to relax, slow down, go outside and get some really fresh oxygen, and take some deep breaths. I try to stop and focus on whether I'm feeling tense and stiff in my shoulders. My daughters are prone to headaches on trips, when they go to special events or concerts, or especially after they've spent a whole day outside in the summer sun and heat: dehydration. Many kids don't drink enough to keep themselves properly hydrated, and I have read that lack of water or liquid can also lead to headaches.

Another contributing factor to headaches on special event days or when traveling is haphazard eating. My mother always has to be careful around mealtime, with a gnawing stomach making her feel queasy. And if the meal is delayed too long, blood sugar drops in the body and you start feeling badly because of that. My one daughter with this problem has learned to carry a pack of small peanut butter crackers with her-so she gets food with protein in that situation. Overall I think I have fewer headaches now that I drink very little caffeine (maybe two or three doses a month). So there you have it, my non-medical, "don't sue me" advice for having fewer headaches. It doesn't always work for me, either. Seriously, do see your doctor if you have serious, recurring headaches that don't seem to be just a result of tension.

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Contributed by Melodie Davis from her weekly columnANOTHER WAY (http://www.thirdway.com/aw/).For information on using Another Way in a local newspaper, contact:ANOTHER WAY, 1251 Virginia Ave., Harrisonburg, VA 22801-2497; or call1-800-999-3534; fax at 540-434-5556; or email me at:Melodie@mennomedia.org