Five steps to beat a headache
BY Sharon Labi Freelance Journalist
Relieve a nasty headache with these tried-and-true tips.
Before you pop an over-the-counter painkiller, consider these five ways to prevent and manage a headache.
Change your diet
Many foods trigger headaches, from aged cheese to red wine. Among the most common offenders are foods high in the amino acid tyramine. They include salami, snow peas, pickles, olives, nuts and yeast.
Nutritionist Catherine Saxelby suggests keeping a food diary to link your diet to your headaches, then begin an elimination diet. Cut out all potential triggers and re-introduce a new one every second day.
Take supplements or herbs
Magnesium is closely linked to serotonin, which regulates blood-vessel function. Gerald Edmunds, secretary of the Brain Foundation, which runs Headache Australia, says our soil is lacking in magnesium and a deficiency can disturb serotonin production and cause muscle inflammation. Supplements can relax constricted blood vessels and muscles.
A clinical trial by Griffith University in Queensland found folate and vitamin B dramatically reduced headache frequency and pain severity in long-term sufferers.
The herb feverfew contains parthenolide, a compound that helps relieve muscle spasms and prevents constriction of blood vessels in the brain. It can be taken as dry leaves or in capsule form.
Some essential oils, such as peppermint, lavender, chamomile, rosemary, lemon and marjoram have an analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect and have been found to be particularly useful in managing tension headaches.
Dr Jane Buckle, author of Clinical Aromatherapy: Essential Oils In Practice (Churchill Livingstone), recommends mixing two drops of peppermint oil in a teaspoon of olive oil and rubbing it on the forehead and temples (preferably while lying in a quiet space). Or place a few drops of lavender, mandarin or clay sage essential oils on a cotton ball and inhale for a few minutes.
Before treatment, the practitioner will try to assess what is causing the headaches, acupuncturist Aja Stuart says.
“If it’s hormonal, we treat that, if it’s stress or tension headaches, releasing the neck and shoulders works wonders,” she says.
Stuart recommends a session once a week for a month to prevent the onset of a headache.
Skip your period
A change in hormone levels can cause menstrual headaches or migraines. “It’s a drop in oestrogen in the menstrual cycle or contraceptive pill cycle that often triggers headaches,” says Professor Alastair MacLennan of Adelaide’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
He says the monthly headaches can be cured by using an oestrogen patch or taking an oestrogen pill.
“Some women like to run continuous [contraceptive] pills together so they don’t get a period for several months,” Professor MacLennan says. It’s best to consult your doctor first.
What you need to know NOW
More than five million Australians regularly suffer from headaches.