The Pain in the neck that is a headache

This last week several people told me about headaches they were having. In fact I even had a headache one day last week. After getting over my headache I realized I needed to write a blog post about headaches and some things you can do to overcome the headache.

To start off with let’s explore three different types of headaches and what are their causes, then we can look at what you can do to get over the headache quickly and get back to life.

 

Three of the most common types of headaches:

1. Dehydration headaches. The cause of this type of headache  is obvious. Dehydration! A dehydration headache is a warning sign of some severe issues on the horizon. If not dealt with you could have some severe issues like kidney shut down, and liver failure. Here in the dry southwest dehydration is a constant issue. If you do not stay on top of your water intake you can get dehydrated really quickly. The same thing with anywhere else where you may be spending too much time in the direct sunlight or an activity that uses up lots of the bodies store of water can result in dehydration quickly.
2. Sinus Pressure Headaches. This type of headache usually comes with a flu, cold or allergies. These headaches can put pressure on the sinuses as well as the brain and eyes. If not treated these headaches can lead to serious problems like broken ear drums, sinus infections and other complicated issues.
3. Migraines. For me a migraine is the end of the world. Everything stops and I go to bed and hide. There are several causes of migraines but they all boil down to a neurological hiccup, Some of the common triggers for migraines are allergies to foods like chocolate and oranges, atmospheric changes or even stress.

What to do for each type of headache:

Here are several ideas but one of the most important for any of these headaches is rest. Getting plenty of rest when you have a headache is essential to recovering from the  headache.

 

Dehydration headaches:

Quite often people will say just drink more water and yes that can help but when you are dehydrated your body tries to absorb the water faster than you can drink it which will make you nauseous and may cause vomiting. If you are going to drink water it is important to sip it slowly. Because you need to go slow with the water.  Here are a few things that you can do to speed up the absorption so that you get over the headache quickly.

• Tea Honey - Whenever we have anyone in our house with a dehydration headache or just about any type of headache for that matter, Tea Honey is the first thing we do. ( Here is an article about Tea Honey and the recipe) We also add a hydration or vitamin powder to our Tea Honey that helps to recover from a headache quickly. We use a powder that we get at our local Sprouts market. If you don’t have a sprouts nearby there are many other types like E’mergen-C.

• Water in the nose - We use a clean 1 or 2 ounce bottle with a squirt top and add a little salt and baking soda (small pinch) to the water.  You will know you have the ratios of water to salt and baking soda correct the water is very soothing. With the small bottle we lay back and bend the neck and then drip the water in the nose. If you do not have a bottle you can use a Netipot to achieve the same results.

• Swab the nose - If you do not have a bottle or Netipot you can swab the nose. We have been swabbing the nose for many years and it is so very soothing. To swab the nose get a cotton swab and put Comfrey Gold salve on the swab, ( if you don’t have the salve you can use either virgin coconut oil or virgin olive oil) and then insert the swab in the nostrils of the nose. Use the swab to coat the edges of the nostrils. You do not need to go very deep. Laying down on your back and let the gravity do the work. Swabbing the nose  gives the sinus the moisture it needs and with the Comfrey Gold salve it soothes and heals the irritated membranes.

• Baking Soda water - is an excellent way to prevent dehydration headaches. On this podcast we talked about about how and why you would want to use baking soda in your water.

Sinus pressure Headache

These headaches are caused by having an upper respiratory issue. The headaches are triggered by allergies a cold or a flu. Allergies, cold and flu cause the upper respiratory system to dry out get irritated and swell. Thus the headache, you are fighting a dehydration headache along with swollen irritated tissues, in the ears nose and throat. These headaches can make the neck hurt and the glands in the throat to swell. Because this is partially a dehydration headache all the remedies for the dehydration headache help as well as the following ideas.

• Nourish the upper respiratory system - Whether it is allergies, a cold, or a flu your body and especially the upper respiratory system is being attacked and weakened. Hay Asz and Fection were designed exactly for this purpose to feed and nourish the upper respiratory system. These two formulas give your body the necessary nutrients to combat a virus or an allergen that your body is fighting. The two formulas will also help to relive the pressure in your head, soothe the irritated membranes and bring your ears nose and throat back to optimal health.

• Treat the ears nose and throat - Whenever there is anything related to issues with the upper respiratory system. We always suggest treating the ears nose and throat. You want to treat all these areas because the ears nose and throat are all connected and if you do not treat all three, whatever you are combating can move from one area to another. Begin with the Fection and Hay Asz for internal health, swab the nose (see above) and treat the ears with a good ear oil. We have talked about swabbing the nose, now to treat the ears. If you have a broken or perforated  ear drum it is best to not treat your ears in this way. Begin by getting some hydrogen peroxide and a good ear oil (one that has garlic and mullein in it). This can be done by your self but having help is much easier. lay on your side with one ear pointing up. Pour some peroxide in the ear canal and let it sit, It should bubble but it may not. This will soften any ear wax and clean out the ear canal of debris. After a few minutes place a paper towel or napkin over the ear and turn over. Pour some peroxide in the ear that didn’t have the peroxide while the first era drains onto the paper towel. After a few minutes turn back over to drain the second ear onto a paper towel, and fill the first ear canal with ear oil. Put some cotton in the ear to hold the oil in and turn over and fill the second ear with ear oil and put some cotton in the second ear to hold the oil. We like to go to sleep after treating the ears so that the ear oil has time to soak into the ear canal and soothe the membranes in the ear.

Migraines

Migraines for me are the worst kind of headache they debilitate me, literally I can not do anything except sleep them off. But there are some things you can do to lessen migraines and hopefully prevent them.

• Tracking - When it comes to migraines, tracking is very important. The reason you want to track migraines is you are looking for the pattern. What triggers a migraine so you can avoid the trigger. Are the headaches random? For women do they follow you monthly cycle? What did you eat? What activities did you do before you had a migraine? Tracking your headaches and what you did, ate, or your environment before a migraine will be very beneficial in recognizing and preventing future headaches,

• Nerquilizer - is an amazing herbal formula to help keep migraines at bay. Earlier in the post I mentioned that migraines are a neurological hiccup, Nerquilizer  will help prevent those hiccups. Nerquilizer feeds and nourishes the nervous system and the brain. Another great benefit of Nerquilizer is when you have a migraine trigger you get the “flashing” in the peripheral vision. The moment you start to see the “flashing” take a lot of Nerquilizer (10 capsules) and often it will stop the migraine from going any further.

I hope that these tips and tricks are helpful in helping you prevent headaches and suffering less with headaches.