Do You Suffer From Headaches?

Headaches are a very common problem today affecting children, teens, and adults and can range from mild to severe to debilitating. Headaches can also classified as migraines. There are many causes of headaches but before I list the many causes I would like you to understand this one thing. Headaches are a sign that something is not right in your body. It is a signal from your body, in this case, your head, telling you that something is wrong. It is not a sign telling you that your body lacks Advil, Motrin, Tylenol, etc.

Headaches are kinda like a fever. A fever happens when the body is sick and the body is trying to heal itself since the body is largely a self-healing entity. The human body was made to heal itself. The fever is a way the body raises its temperature to burn up the virus. Most people will take something for the fever when all they really need to do is hydrate drink plenty of water or other liquids and let the fever do its job. 

Sometimes it just needs a little help. Here's another example. If you have a simple fracture in your arm the doctor many times will put a cast on your arm to hold the bone in place without needing to do any surgery. The cast holds the bone in its proper place while the body heals. Did the doctor heal your broken bone? No. The doctor only helped your body by placing a cast and then your body does the healing work. 

The causes of headaches can be as simple as being dehydrated. Your body needs water even more than food! Sodas, beer, and tea do not count as water even though they contain water but they also contain caffeine which is actually a diuretic and will cause you to lose water. 

A rare cause of headaches could be a brain tumor, a CT Scan of your brain can determine if that is the cause of your headaches. Muscle tension, stress, and anxiety are common causes of headaches. The stress especially if it is recurring day after day week after week causes muscle tension and then your shoulder and neck muscles get tight. The result is a tension headache.

Another very common cause of headaches is poor head posture. Whether you are on your phone with your head bent downward or you're on a computer with not the best posture or you sleep with a pillow that is not appropriate for your body size then these things can cause not only muscular tension but a problem in the spine itself as does sleeping on your stomach.

Chiropractic can be very beneficial to re-align the spine, teach you better posture and sleep techniques, and provide some neck strengthening exercises. Tooth problems as well as vision problems can also be a cause of headaches. 

Your diet is also important to your well-being. Many prepared and packaged foods contain too many chemical additives. MSG or monosodium glutamate is one such chemical that causes headaches and or digestive issues. 

Having high blood pressure can also be a cause of headaches. What is crazy is that even prescription drugs for high blood pressure or headaches can also cause or worsen the headaches. There are also many other prescription and pain-relieving drugs that can cause headaches even birth control pills.

Alcohol can also trigger headaches and the dreaded hangover not to mention the damage alcohol does to the liver and pancreas. Caffeine withdrawal and lack of sleep are still other causes. 

I hope this article has shed some light on your headaches and how to avoid them!