The headache can be one of life's terrible ordeals. Few things more thoroughly comprise enjoyment of your quality of life.
Learning how to get rid of a headache without medicine can be a real life saver. It's a way of getting at a serious problem in a manner that doesn't make the situation worse, nor simply cover over the original cause. This is real health/self care, not mere symptom management or masking.
A headache can be a real challenge. Even the least of them interferes with our enjoyment of life. The worst ones though will be downright debilitating. A terrible headache can effectively bring your life to a complete standstill.
For some people the quick and easy response is to pop some kind of over the counter pharmaceutical. As a blanket solution, though, this one isn't especially promising. The fact is that not all such drugs work for everyone and indeed for some people none of them work.
That's hardly the end of the matter though, because, even if the drugs do relieve the headache, some people are reticent over consuming yet more industrial strength chemicals. Most of us do consume a rather lot of those already.
But even those who aren't so conscientious about what they put in their bodies still have to confront the consequences of pharmaceutical side effects. Just like the headaches that cause people to turn to pharmaceuticals, the latter's side effects may range the spectrum from uneasy annoyances to sometimes pretty serious health hindrances. Here you are in danger of having the cure being worst than the illness.
Finally, even if the industrial strength chemicals do work on our biochemistry and say they manage to do so without causing any significant (or at least immediately obvious) side effects, at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is that all that we're accomplished is the masking of our headache symptoms.
Certainly, effective relief of headache symptoms should not be belittled. There's no doubt that headaches may result in major and even debilitating pain and discomfort. Alleviating such suffering can result in a massive improvement in the quality of life for the one suffering the headache. It is necessary though to keep perspective on the big picture. Without belittling the benefits of short term symptom relief, it still has to be observed that the long term consequences, though untended, can be unfortunate.
If our approach to our headache is strictly guided by the relief of symptoms, we never actually address the cause of the headache. Symptoms of course are only effects, not causes. However thoroughly one addresses the effects of something, the cause remains a separate matter.
There's a double barreled problem here. Aside of the obvious fact that symptom relief or management never gets at the physiological, psychological or lifestyle factors causing the headache, the root problem is never solved. The situation is worse than that though. Masking or alleviating symptoms actually reduce our incentive to resolve the root cause of the headache.
In this sense, a headache is no different than any other symptom we experience. It is a kind of warning signal. Our body is telling us that something is up and we need to be aware of it. We need to act on it. Ignoring or concealing those warning signals may make them go away, but it doesn't make the cause signaling the warning go away. To use a bit of an extreme, but hopefully an illustrative, example: obviously if you take some medication that alleviates symptoms of serious impediments to blood circulation, this may well relieve the ensuing pain. What it will not do is prevent the onset of gangrene.
We will repeat, there is no denying here that relief from pain and other symptoms can be a huge benefit to our quality of life. The difference in knowing how to get rid of a headache without medicine, though, provides resolution that goes beyond symptom relief. It is about getting at the root cause: discovering and addressing the source of your headache symptoms.
Not heeding the warning signals of a headache, and going for the quick fix of pharmaceutical symptom relief, is pretty much the same as driving your car with a blindfold on, so that you won't have to stop for any red lights. It will work in the short term. You won't see the red light. It's the long term which is the concern.
Learning how to get rid of a headache without medicine can be a real life saver. It's a way of getting at a serious problem in a manner that doesn't make the situation worse, nor simply cover over the original cause. This is real health/self care, not mere symptom management or masking.
A headache can be a real challenge. Even the least of them interferes with our enjoyment of life. The worst ones though will be downright debilitating. A terrible headache can effectively bring your life to a complete standstill.
For some people the quick and easy response is to pop some kind of over the counter pharmaceutical. As a blanket solution, though, this one isn't especially promising. The fact is that not all such drugs work for everyone and indeed for some people none of them work.
That's hardly the end of the matter though, because, even if the drugs do relieve the headache, some people are reticent over consuming yet more industrial strength chemicals. Most of us do consume a rather lot of those already.
But even those who aren't so conscientious about what they put in their bodies still have to confront the consequences of pharmaceutical side effects. Just like the headaches that cause people to turn to pharmaceuticals, the latter's side effects may range the spectrum from uneasy annoyances to sometimes pretty serious health hindrances. Here you are in danger of having the cure being worst than the illness.
Finally, even if the industrial strength chemicals do work on our biochemistry and say they manage to do so without causing any significant (or at least immediately obvious) side effects, at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is that all that we're accomplished is the masking of our headache symptoms.
Certainly, effective relief of headache symptoms should not be belittled. There's no doubt that headaches may result in major and even debilitating pain and discomfort. Alleviating such suffering can result in a massive improvement in the quality of life for the one suffering the headache. It is necessary though to keep perspective on the big picture. Without belittling the benefits of short term symptom relief, it still has to be observed that the long term consequences, though untended, can be unfortunate.
If our approach to our headache is strictly guided by the relief of symptoms, we never actually address the cause of the headache. Symptoms of course are only effects, not causes. However thoroughly one addresses the effects of something, the cause remains a separate matter.
There's a double barreled problem here. Aside of the obvious fact that symptom relief or management never gets at the physiological, psychological or lifestyle factors causing the headache, the root problem is never solved. The situation is worse than that though. Masking or alleviating symptoms actually reduce our incentive to resolve the root cause of the headache.
In this sense, a headache is no different than any other symptom we experience. It is a kind of warning signal. Our body is telling us that something is up and we need to be aware of it. We need to act on it. Ignoring or concealing those warning signals may make them go away, but it doesn't make the cause signaling the warning go away. To use a bit of an extreme, but hopefully an illustrative, example: obviously if you take some medication that alleviates symptoms of serious impediments to blood circulation, this may well relieve the ensuing pain. What it will not do is prevent the onset of gangrene.
We will repeat, there is no denying here that relief from pain and other symptoms can be a huge benefit to our quality of life. The difference in knowing how to get rid of a headache without medicine, though, provides resolution that goes beyond symptom relief. It is about getting at the root cause: discovering and addressing the source of your headache symptoms.
Not heeding the warning signals of a headache, and going for the quick fix of pharmaceutical symptom relief, is pretty much the same as driving your car with a blindfold on, so that you won't have to stop for any red lights. It will work in the short term. You won't see the red light. It's the long term which is the concern.
About the Author:
For all the hottest scoop on overcoming headaches without medicine, you you should follow our best advice at the How to Get Rid of a Headache without Medicine site. We've got you covered. Tosh Caliberni writes for a number of health blogs. If you're planning outdoor fun, either at the cottage this summer or a winter getaway in the sunshine, you need to read Tosh's great article on watching for Mosquito Bite Allergy Reactions