The best ways to treat headaches

1 Doctor's consultation

Headache is a very common ailment and the reason why most people use pain medication tablets. If pain symptoms occur frequently, then a doctor's consultation is necessary. Headache is characterized by different duration and different intensity and is not necessarily a sign of a serious illness. In order to find the causes of a headache, to know how to cure a headache, and to choose good medications, it is very important to consult a doctor.

Particular attention should be paid to the time of the onset of pain and its intensity, the symptoms accompanying the transferred diseases, the drugs used, the occurrence of headaches in other family members. Anxiety can be severe pain that suddenly appears and irritates the patient.

2 Causes of a pathology

Headache can be caused by a variety of causes, they include, in particular:

• stress;
• excessive noise;
• too low hydration of the body;
• injuries that occur in the neck or head;
• arterial hypertension;
• vision defects;
• sinusitis;
• tooth disease;
• fatigue and lack of sleep;
• used drugs and psychoactive substances;
• hormonal fluctuations;
• physical and mental fatigue;
• food rich in products containing tyramine, for example hard cheeses, red wine, chocolate.

Medications for headache relieve manifestations of this symptom. However, it should be remembered that excessive use of pain medications can cause an exacerbation of the headache.

3 Therapeutic therapy for the chronic course of the disease

Treatment of a headache with a chronic character is not an easy task. Proper cooperation between the doctor and the patient is important for obtaining positive results in treatment. In the treatment of chronic headache, the treatment of the underlying disease causing pain and malaise( for example, the elimination of visual defects with appropriately selected corrective lenses or the use of drugs that reduce blood pressure in hypertension) is performed.

The main drugs used in everyday headaches are antidepressants and tranquilizers. However, the effects of the applied pharmacotherapy may be unsatisfactory, and the headache may persist. In this regard, an important role is attributed to auxiliary treatment in the form of psychotherapy, as well as various relaxation methods.

4 Medications

Assortment of pharmacy offers many effective drugs for headaches that are dispensed without a prescription. An important issue is to familiarize yourself with the instructions that accompany the package before using this product. The instruction contains a lot of important information, so for your own safety, you should not ignore it. Especially valuable information is indications for the use of the drug, contraindications, possible side effects, dosage, interaction with other medicines and influence on driving vehicles.

The most commonly used medicines are the following.

Paracetamol has antipyretic and analgesic effect, it has no anti-inflammatory effect. The drug is taken orally and reaches its maximum concentration after 1 hour. Helps with pain of various origins with moderate and mild severity( eg fever, painful menstruation, headaches).Paracetamol rarely has side effects, occasionally there are symptoms from the gastrointestinal tract, rash, very rarely - anemia, kidney damage, agranulocytosis, thrombocytopenia.

Ibuprofen belongs to the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs( NSAIDs), has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic effects. The drug is indicated in such various ailments as headache, dental pain, bones and joints, muscles, painful menstruation, rheumatism, fever, posttraumatic changes. The use of Ibuprofen can lead to such side effects as nausea, dyspepsia, diarrhea, constipation, epigastric pain, itching, urticaria, edema, hypertension. Postvaccinal reactions occur rarely if the drug is used temporarily.

Analgin - a drug with painkiller, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic effects. Analgin is used for pain of high severity and with fever, if the use of other drugs has proved ineffective. Side effects that the drug exhibits: rarely there is a rash, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, irritation of the gastric mucosa. The use of too large doses can excite the central nervous system and be accompanied by the appearance of numerous side effects, for example: dizziness, tinnitus, hearing and consciousness impairment.

Acetylsalicylic acid is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug with analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic effects. The drug is used to treat high fever, head, muscle, dental and menstrual pains, with rheumatic diseases. Acetylsalicylic acid in low doses inhibits platelet aggregation.

Naproxen belongs to the group of NSAIDs, it has anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic effects. Naproxen is used most often for osteoarthritis and for moderate pain: headache, dysmenorrhea, back pain. Naproxen can cause side effects such as nausea, constipation, abdominal pain, indigestion, diarrhea, stomatitis, dizziness and dyspnea.

The pharmacy sells homeopathic remedies that relieve sudden seizures: migraine and headache. They include herbs, for example mint, valerian, lemon balm, olive oil, ginger. Herbs show good effectiveness, if used regularly. In treatment, an ointment containing essential oils, such as eucalyptus, cloves, camphor and menthol, can also be useful.

5 Effective methods of getting rid of the disease

Treatment of headaches starts with simple non-pharmacological methods and eliminates the factors that cause seizures. How to treat a headache in simple ways? A quick and easy way is to use headache medications that are dispensed without a prescription, however, before taking a pill, you should try to apply home methods. In many cases, home methods help to avoid the use of medications, but they must be applied in a timely manner.

If you know the factors that lead to a headache, you should do everything possible to eliminate them.

Effective methods:

• cold compresses applied to the forehead and whiskey( they can be made from water or vinegar and using herbal infusions);
• herbal infusions for drinking, often used infusion of mint, chamomile, ginger, lavender, valerian, lemon balm;
• avoidance of stressful situations - it is worth taking care of peace, regulation of lifestyle and discharge of daily stress;

Headache can cause malnutrition. Many foods affect the onset of headaches. They include hard cheeses, chocolate, nuts, smoked fish, sausages, coffee, alcohol( often red wine), marinades, cocoa and citrus fruits. The diet is chosen individually in case of headaches, therefore it is recommended to keep a diary that helps to draw conclusions, and due to this, the factor causing pain can be eliminated.

6 Prevention and counseling

In many cases, headaches are effective in resting in a quiet and warm room and sleeping.

In the prevention of frequent headaches, it is very important to normalize the rhythm of life - you need to allocate enough time for rest, sleep and physical activity.

If the application of the measures listed above proves to be ineffective, then one can try to alleviate the pain and discomfort through the so-called non-traditional methods of combating pain( for example, acupuncture).Undoubtedly, the most frequently used drugs are drugs with analgesic effect. These drugs are available in various forms: tablets( traditional), suppositories, patch. This makes it possible to choose the most convenient way for you.

It should be noted that in the case of migraine, the use of analgesics gives the greatest effect when you use them already at the time of the onset of symptoms of the disease.

Other drugs that can reduce the intensity of the patient's sensation are antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and calcium channel blockers.

Unconventional methods for combating headaches include acupuncture, acupressure, aromatherapy, and massage. The effectiveness of these methods is difficult to unambiguously determine, although there is a group of patients to whom their application brings a great improvement. The action of these methods is based primarily on reducing emotional tension, calm and general relaxation of the body.