These headache prevention tips and natural headache cures come from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), a complete, professional medical system that has been practiced continuously for at least 2500 years. TCM offers many solutions for headache sufferers including acupuncture, acupressure, herbal remedies, breathing exercises and dietary advice. These techniques have been proven for safety and efficacy over many centuries by literally millions of Chinese people. The good news is you don't need to be Chinese to benefit from them - all you need is a desire to stop your headaches and improve your overall health.
Headache Prevention Tips: Acupressure
Acupressure is very easy to do - locate specific points on your body (using an acupressure points chart or video) and press and rub them with your fingers for 1-2 minutes, several times a day. Common acupressure points for headache are located at the base of your skull, on your temples and on your hands and feet. These are the same points that are needled in acupuncture - the difference is you can do acupressure yourself, making it a convenient way to relieve and prevent headaches.
Headache Prevention Tips: Chinese Herbal Remedies
There are many Chinese herbal headache remedies that have been proven to be safe and effective over centuries of continuous use in China. While the traditional way to take them is by boiling the ingredients in water and drinking the brew as a tea, these days they are available in pill, tablet, powder and granule form. Unless you have knowledge of TCM principles and diagnostics, though, you should consult a trained practitioner of Chinese herbal medicine or acupuncture to see which particular remedy is best for you.
Headache Prevention Tips: Breathing Exercises
A major cause of headache is chronic stress and related emotions such as frustration and irritability. One main body area affected by chronic stress is the upper back, neck and shoulders, which become tight, tense and painful. Slow, deep breathing exercises are a superb way to calm your mind, relax your body, reduce the effects of chronic stress and improve your ability to deal with it.
Headache Prevention Tips: Diet/Lifestyle
There is no single diet suitable for everyone. However, there are some general TCM dietary guidelines that can benefit most headache sufferers, especially those with chronic stress headaches. According to TCM, chronic stress mainly affects the liver. Foods and drinks which aggravate the liver include anything that is fried or spicy, as well as alcohol, coffee and drugs. TCM recommends a simple, bland diet for best health. This means fresh, natural foods and drinks and meals that are not overly cooked. Steaming and stir-frying are recommended cooking methods as they cook quickly and lightly while still retaining nutrients.
As with herbal remedies, a TCM practitioner can give you specific dietary advice that matches your age, body type, state of health and other factors unique to you. Apart from adjusting your diet it's important to maintain a balanced lifestyle. Irregular meal times and sleeping times, overworking and excess mental irritation, for example, can all cause and/or aggravate headaches.
