Month: March 2022

How Your Diet Can Fight (Or Cause) Headaches

Doctors have identified dozens of headache triggers which include obvious factors such as stress, pollution and changes in the weather. But one trigger that you may not even consider is your diet.

Everyone is different. Some people have a single food trigger while others may have a combination of food trigger such as consuming too much caffeine: a cup of coffee in the morning followed by a cola with a snack mid-morning. The best way to assess what triggers affect you and your headaches is to keep a food diary that includes what you eat on what days along with notes regarding extenuating circumstances. These could include a note about a stressful sales meeting or the day it rained all day.

Things that Should be Avoided

Caffeine – This is the most common headache trigger. Funny, it can be too much or a lack of caffeine that brings on a headache. If you find that consuming caffeine triggers headaches, it is advised to gradually reduce the amount of caffeine you consume until you can quit completely to avoid what is called a ‘bounce-back’ headache from occurring when you limit your consumption too much when your body is used to it.

High Fat Foods

Reducing the amount of high fat foods has been found to reduce the intensity and frequency of headaches. Try and keep fat intake to twenty percent or less of the total calories consumed.

Tyramine

Foods that are aged or fermented contain this natural by-product of tyrosine. Foods that are on this list include red wine, aged cheeses, processed deli-style meats, and bananas that have become over-ripened. Light cheese like mozzarella, cottage and ricotta are a better choice. White wine and beer have less amount of tyramine and make a better choice but any alcoholic beverages can be a headache trigger.

Artificial Sweeteners

NutraSweet (aspartame) is a trigger for some people. Test results vary and the NutraSweet Company website states that overwhelming evidence exists that it does not cause headaches.

Bull squeeze!

I can attest personally to this as products that contain NutraSweet products give me headaches. Every time I consumed a diet beverage when it first came out, headache! A bad one too… So I avoided NutraSweet and all its derivatives like the plague. Until…

Recently, I began eating a high-fiber cereal for breakfast to help with some weight loss and to increase my fiber intake. I also started writing and spent a lot of hours at the computer. Every day around lunch, I would begin to suffer with a pounding headache. I just attributed it to stress and muscle tension since I was at the computer for 10 hours a day. I just pounded down pain relief and struggled daily to get my work done.

Then one morning, my daughter was pouring a bowl of the same cereal and was looking at the nutrition label when she looked over at me eating my bowl of cereal and said, “Dad, you know that this stuff has NutraSweet, right?”

What?

I looked at the label and sure enough – “Contains Aspartame”. I never saw it and frankly, I never even considered that I needed to look for it – it’s a health food after all! I tossed the bowl of cereal in the garbage and ate a fiber bar with a glass of milk instead. Got a headache later in the day (I had consumed about half a bowl).

That was 5 weeks ago. I have not had a headache since.…

Fighting Stress Headaches

Stress headaches, or tension headaches, affect nearly every person from time to time. They aren’t usually an indication of anything serious, and more of a minor annoyance that usually can be remedied through a mild pain reliever. A stress headache produces a mild to moderate pain across the head, often described as a tight rubber band around the head.

There are numerous reported potential causes for stress headaches, but for the most part the source of headaches is unknown. The good news is that tension headaches can be easily remedied through pain relievers and a healthy lifestyle.

Some headaches may come on fast and disappear without causing too much discomfort. However, sometimes tension headaches can last for up to a week coming in waves of intensity. Headaches often strike people in waves, where they may feel discomfort followed by relief over a period of time. This is called episodic tension headaches. Often, the choice of headache remedy is only providing temporary relief and not tackling the cause of the headaches, therefore extending the discomfort. Some headache relief medications contain caffeine which provides momentary relief but can just extend the headache episode by not breaking the headache cycle.

Not knowing the causes of your headache can be frustrating. To better understand the causes of your headaches, it’s beneficial to keep track of what might be triggering them. This may be as simple as food choices, a disruption in sleep patterns or environmental factors. Some women have sensitivity to high levels of estrogen which may need to be modified to break the headache cycle.

Researchers are trying to determine if tension headaches stem from chemical imbalances in the brain. There are certain brain chemicals including serotonin and endorphins that help the nerves communicate with the brain and the body. Disruption in the normal flow of these chemicals in the brain can cause mild pain. Muscle tension is also linked to changes in chemical balance, which consequently can also lead to headaches. Researchers are still trying to determine why the chemical balance gets interrupted. But, at the same time, doctors know that certain personal factors may lead to the chemical imbalance, which makes prevention and avoidance of triggers important to headache relief.

Treatment for mild to moderate tension headaches can be inexpensive and effective. Many over-the-counter medicines found at your local drug store or supermarket can provide relief for tension headaches. Such medicines as aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen can be taken for tension headaches. If you are struggling with chronic headaches consistently over a long period of time, you should see a doctor. Over-the-counter medicines may not provide you any relief and something stronger might need to be prescribed by a doctor.

Doctors recommend that you do not abuse over-the-counter medicines for headaches. It can lead to rebound headaches and the continuation of tension headaches. If you are having tension headaches more than 15 days in a month, it may be an indication of a larger problem that will need the attention of a doctor.

Aside from medicine, lifestyle changes can help with your headache management. Again, exercise and an active, healthy lifestyle can reduce your likelihood of getting tension headaches. Combined with a good diet and rest, a reduction in stress can also lessen your predisposition to headaches. Muscle tension is usually linked to stress and therefore can be a factor in headache development. Relaxing the muscles and maintaining good posture are also helpful in avoiding a stress headache. In general, if you stay active and focus on a healthy lifestyle, you may find you have few stress headaches.…

Learn the Best Headache Treatment!

Are you suffering from intense headaches on a regular basis? Are you looking to find the best headache treatment so that you can reduce the constant pain? Great! This article will cover some of the most popular methods of curing headaches, so pay close attention and you could learn how to do exactly that!

There are three ways that are free and extremely easy to execute; massaging, using some kind of ice treatment and also controlling your diet. A lot of people do not think a combination of these three methods can actually work, but try it for yourself before listening to others, as it will not cost you anything so you have nothing to lose.

1. Massaging

Obviously this is going to be extremely hard to do yourself, so you are going to need some kind of external help. Speak to a close friend or maybe a relative and ask them if they can do this for you once a day. Doing this once a day will reduce the pressure and pain and hopefully prevent future headaches, or at least help to decrease the intensity.

2. The ice headache treatment

This is a treatment that is extremely popular. Wrapping a wet and cool towel around your head for a long period of time can be extremely effective. It will slowly reduce the pressure like massaging does and hopefully, will also decrease the pain. This is one of the best instant headache treatments that there are.

3. Controlling a diet

A common misconception is that a diet has nothing to do with headaches and migraines; if you think this you are completely wrong. The likes of caffeine and nicotine in a diet or even excess amounts of chocolate for instance, could be leading to your problems.

Conclusion

If you have a balanced and healthy diet alongside using both massaging and the ice headache treatment, it is possible you will see a huge improvement within a few days!…

Chiropractic Adjustment – Examining the Thoughts Behind Chiropractic Adjustment

Chiropractic adjustment is a common technique employed by chiropractors. Some may know the technique by the name spinal manipulation. The basic technique involves the chiropractor moving various joints into the areas beyond normal movement. Each joint has two areas of movement. The first is the normal range of motion. That is where the patient normally moves the joint doing everyday tasks like walking or sitting. The other area of movement is the range beyond normal use, but still within the joints’ anatomical range of motion. An adjustment involves moving the joint into the area beyond normal use.

Many patients seek a chiropractic adjustment in order to deal with pain in some area of the body. There is a range of medical conditions that patients report improve through these adjustments. These include back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, arthritis, and sciatica. Many people do not seek chiropractic treatments until mainstream medicine cannot handle their particular situation. Whiplash is a common reason people start seeing chiropractors. Mainstream medicine would treat this with painkillers. But, that only masks the pain. Seeking treatment for the underlying issue drives people to their first chiropractor appointment. Chronic pain from a variety of injuries is another reason.

Holistic medicine and chiropractic techniques go hand in hand. Many mainstream doctors do not treat the entire patient. They focus on the area of pain or complaint. They do not consider that the entire body requires treatment to restore the balance. The body has an amazing ability to heal without help. But, in some cases, a little help will make the process go faster. A chiropractic adjustment will help bring the muscles, joints, and bones into alignment to make things flow easier. The thought is that restoring the body’s alignment will allow the body to heal itself faster.

Many patients report that they experience relief and healing after a chiropractic adjustment. Some, however, require ongoing adjustment at least for a short period in order to get the most benefits. When the body becomes used to one position, it will often fight when the chiropractor tries to rectify alignment issues. Repeated treatments reinforce the initial adjustment. The chiropractor will reassess the situation at a later point to make sure the adjustments are having the expected results. Don’t let mainstream medicine scare you away from a holistic option. You can use both to make your health improve. And that is something many want to explore.…

Why Would I Need a Chiropractor?

D. D. Palmer discovered chiropractic as a profession in September of 1895; however, the art of spinal manipulation was not a new one. There are historical records that date back to 17,500 B.C. that demonstrate spinal manipulation. Chiropractic is today the world’s largest natural primary health care profession. Chiropractic care is administered to correct nerve interference caused by misalignments in the spine. This nerve interference, also known as a subluxation, alters the messages sent from the brain to every cell of the body. This can create dis-ease in the body or a state of unwellness, which can result in sickness and disease. You may have subluxations present that can slowly undermine your health.

The spinal column consists of 24 bones called vertebrae. These vertebrae house your nervous system, which controls and integrates all body activities. The nervous system is the body’s master control center with the brain operating like a computer. The brain is one of the body’s largest organs weighing in at approximately 3 pounds in the average adult. It is through this nervous system that vital messages are sent between your brain and every cell, organ, gland and muscle in your body. When a subluxation or a misalignment in the vertebrae occurs, these messages are altered and your body cannot respond the way it was intended.

How do I get a misaligned vertebrae or subluxation?

These misaligned vertebrae can occur for many reasons. Sometimes at birth subluxations can be introduced at the beginning of life or shortly after while learning to walk or skate. Adults can become subluxated due to stress, alcohol or drug abuse, poor posture, auto, work or sports related injuries and even poor eating habits. Sometimes consistently carrying heavy objects such as briefcases or handbags can result in misaligned vertebrae. So as you can see almost anyone can have subluxations present, which slowly undermine health. Anyone who has a subluxation should have it corrected in order to realize their optimum health potential.

How do I know if I have nerve interference?

Some of the warning symptoms include, neck or back pain, headaches, numbness or tingling in the arms or legs, hip pain, allergies, pain in joints, dizziness, or a weakened immune system.

Can these misalignments be corrected?

Yes! Misalignments can be detected and corrected as well as the nerve interference that they cause. These misalignments are corrected through what is called an adjustment. The adjustment consists of a gentle procedure directed in a specific direction to accomplish two goals: to realign the misaligned vertebrae and to restore a normal nerve supply. The adjustment will aid in restoring proper nerve flow from the brain to the body. This helps to restore optimal health and increase the potential for healing. Chiropractic uses the body’s innate ability to heal itself!

There are 25 million people who enjoy the health benefits of chiropractic care for their health as well as their family’s and are creating a healthier future!…

Migraine Headache – How to Survive With Migraine Headaches

With everything going on in the world and all the stress we must deal with on a daily basis life can be very painful if you are prone to Migraine Headaches. If you suffer from Migraine Headaches they can have a major impact on your life. In this article I will give you some tips on how to deal with Migraine Headaches, so your daily life can be a little more tolerable.

First, try to understand and be aware of your headaches. You want to keep some kind of record to know when they occur and what triggers them. If it is certain events that cause them or is the food you are eating.

Secondly, get in touch with a good physician who treats Migraine Headaches. Not all doctors are familiar with the treatment and causes for Migraines. You want to find an expert who will be able to treat you and understand how you are suffering.

Third, work with your doctor, takes the medicine he prescribes. If after a designated time your Migraines are no better ask him to try another drug. Don’t get discouraged, the same drugs do not work for everyone.

Fourth, familiarize yourself with the foods and substances that can trigger Migraines. cheese, red wine and processed meat can cause problems for some people, while nuts, chocolate, yogurt and caffeine can cause problems for others. Some people have real problem with Gluten that is found i wheat products. But today many stores carry gluten free products.

Fifth, you may want to consider some natural herbs and supplements along with medication. Feverfew is one product that many people believe reduces the pain of Migraines as well as the frequency of headaches. Ginger is also very good for some people in reducing nausea and pain from Migraines. Fish oils have also been found to be very beneficial to those who suffer from Migraines. The Omega-3 fatty acid stops the inflammation that causes headaches. You can get this either in pill form or from eating fatty fishes.

Lastly, most important, not suffer from Migraines without seeking relief. You are not alone and there is help for you if you look for it.…