If your day starts by mollifying your nagging spouse and then screaming and honking to clear your way through the traffic that stands like a wall in front of you; followed by thundering your team mates for not clearing all the pending work. And then yourself getting screamed at by the boss for delaying the work, then most likely, at the end of the day, you have to contend with a pounding head as a result of the tension accumulated throughout the day. In this, you do not stand alone as more than 90% of the people face tension headaches most of the time. Tension headache is not the headache that hits you when you see your kids’ report card (which would more likely be an irritation than a headache), but the one that comes when you are desperately trying to catch them to send them to school. It is a dull pain followed by the contraction in the scalp and neck; an unthrobbing and intense pain. To counter that pain, instead of tying a scarf to the head or downing an aspirin, if you adopt the home remedies then you can easily conquer your headache in less time and with the minimum effort. Home remedies are also a quick fix solution and will also save you the trouble of running to the drug store every time the pain hits you. To help you in this, go through the article below for the various home remedies for tension headaches.
Remedies For Tension Headaches
- When headaches strike because of tension, the best remedy is to lie down for half an hour with the eyes closed. If possible, try to get a little sleep.
- Keep out of bright light and sunshine. Rest in a darkened room till the headache subsides. You can also wear tinted glass to cut out the lights. Also, stay away from the computer and the TV.
- Dip a clean cloth in ice-cold water and place it over the eyes. You can also put an ice pack on the area of the pain. When trying to sleep you can insert a frozen gel-pack into the pillows. Use ice packs as soon as the pain starts for it to act better on the pain.
- Another way is to place a warm cloth over the eyes and the site of pain. Leave it for half an hour with occasional warming in between.
- Keep your mind away from the tension. Think of things that divert your mind from the problem. If required, force your mind to think pleasant thoughts as it will calm your mind.
- Release your body from tension. Clenching the jaw, wrinkling the brow, or keeping the fists clenched can aggravate the headache. Relax the body muscles through yoga and deep breathing.
- If you smoke, then you are in double risk of tension headache. Smoking aggravates the pain and you will also be at a risk of multiple headaches. You should even cut down on coffee as it makes the muscles tense. Coffee can also make you lose sleep and so aggravate the headache.
- Stretch the neck and upper back muscles while keeping the shoulders loose. Slowly turn the head from the left to right and vice versa. Relax all your muscles from the shoulders above.
- Gently massage the neck and shoulder muscles including the temples.
- Apply a few drops of peppermint or eucalyptus oil on the temples to get relief from the headache.
- Warm 2 tablespoons of sesame oil and gently massage the scalp with it. This will help you to get sleep and also reduce the headache.
- Keep a bottle of peppermint oil or rose oil or lavender oil handy. When headache strikes, sniff on the oil to get relief.
- Drink plenty of water throughout the day.