One thing I’ve got plenty of experience with is headaches. Â Listen, I’m not bragging about that experience… Â I’m just saying that I know a thing or two about that nasty word. Â And migraines? Â Girl, I got you there too. Â If you’ve never had a migraine, count yourself blessed. Very, very blessed.
I felt like Girl Talk Tuesday was the best time for us to tackle this topic since we talk about things like period cramps and small breasts. Â A lot of times headaches and migraines are hormonal. Â Other times they’re hereditary, a result of your environment or a plethora of other reasons. Â If you read my birth control blog post, then you know that I went through a dark period of time when migraines literally took over my life. Â I learned so much about my body and how to deal with headaches/migraines during that time. Â I wanted to share the wealth with any of my sisters who also suffer.
9 Headache and Migraine Hacks:
- Pain Killers. Â This one is a duh, I know. Â But the reason it’s #1 on my list is to not wait until it’s too late to take something for the pain. Â Many times I feel like I can just deal with the pain, because it’s no that bad… Â Then, all of sudden, the pain takes a quick turn and I’m in severe pain. Â Listen to your body. Â Take a small dose to knock it out before it gets worse if you know that you have a tendency to get worse before you get better. Â I personally use either Advil or Excedrin Migraine.
- Chug that water! Â Girl, stay hydrated. Â Being dehydrated can be the only reason you’re in pain, so try to stay on top of your water intake daily.
- Find a cool, dark place. Â My migraines come with an aura, so I get about a 30 minute warning. Â At the first sign of migraine (aura) I pop an Excedrin Migraine and go find a cool, dark place to lay down. Â I’ve found that if I do this immediately, I sometimes only get a mild headache. Â If I wait too long, then the headache comes full force. Â Being in a cool, dark room relaxes your eyes and keeps you calm.
- Turn down the volume. Â Being in the quiet will dramatically help reduce the pain sometimes.
- Keep an ice pack on hand. Â I’ve found that an ice pack placed on the base of my head/neck area really helps manage the pain.
- Invest in a steamer. Â When my headaches are allergy or sinus related, I find that oftentimes I’m just really dried out. Â Sitting under my steamer is such a relief during a bad headache or migraine.
- Rinse those passages! Â If you’re suffering from allergy or sinus headaches, consider doing regular nasal passages. Â As my allergist put it to me, we wash our bodies every day, but we never wash our nasal passages. Â Think about all the dust, dirt and pollen we breathe in on the regular. Â A nasal rinse can really help to keep those allergy headaches to a minimum.
- Olbas oil. Â I’m a big believer in homeopathic medicine. Â When I can, I use Olbas oil to treat my headaches instead of popping yet another painkiller.
- Watch your diet. Â Have you noticed that your headaches or migraines come from certain triggers? Â Maybe it’s only the week before your period? Â Or maybe it’s when you skip your morning cup of coffee? Â For me, I know MSG is a major trigger. Â Consider journaling your headaches, what you did and ate the day before, and maybe you’ll begin to see a pattern form.
What are your headache tips and tricks? Â I feel like I’ve tried just about anything and everything under the sun, these are just the things I’ve found that actually work for me. Â Leave a comment and let me know how you treat your headaches. Â Also, if you’re noticing more headaches than normal lately, go see your doctor.
Photos by Kara Coleen.
What I’m Wearing:
Sweater (sold out); similar here and here  //  Frame Flare Jeans //  Steve Madden Edit Booties
Girl, I feel you on this one. I started getting severe migraine headaches when I was a baby. I got them every 4 to 5 weeks like clock work, until age 12. They started spreading out a little at that time to about every 2 months. They again started spreading to every 4 months in high school, and then eventually to now where it’s pretty rare for me to have one. As a young child I really had no warning other than we knew they would come every month. Worse than that, there really wasn’t anything I could do since I would almost immediately be sick with them for about 12 hours, and then the next 12 were a recovery phase. Doctors couldn’t see any sort of specific triggers for me. The best thing for me was trying to sleep it off in between times of being sick. I would sleep in a dark, cool room.
As I got older and could kind of sense them coming on a little better we found out about Zomig. It’s literally a miracle worker. It does make me a little sleepy, but it takes the headache and moves it to your neck. I do get a little stiffness in that area for a bit, but to me it’s completely worth it.