I have these intensifying headaches that debilitate me for at least a day or two.

My headaches are migraines that are typically located in one part of the head. Pulsating and throbbing, more often than not, it makes me nauseous and I need to rest until I can actually focus on any work again.

I used to resort to over the counter medicines. While they gave me temporary relief, the next time not only were the headaches intense but the effect of the medicines were lesser.

After a few years, I decided to actually make a note on what was causing these headaches and work on getting rid of them. Not forever, but I would like to say that the headache incidents are few today and less intense!

This is what I kept in mind to notice the headache triggers:

1. Keep a watch for food sensitivities

Whenever I steered towards a diet or consumed something in excess (in my case it was an excess intake of spices or sugar, more than 2 cups of coffee, certain aerated drinks and veggies), the headache popped up. What I did was maintain a notebook of what I consumed in a day. I marked a star on the pages of the days I got a headache. I repeated the food to see if it was a one off incident, and if the headache reappeared that food was struck off the list.

2. Not succumb to stress!

Whenever I have been under a lot of stress, I would find these headaches returning with intensity that I could not handle. It could range from an emotional stress to work pressure. I realised that if I had to battle stress, I had to let go of things that were not keeping me happy and buckling me under their weight. Meditation in such cases did help me to a great extent. It is said that migraines can be associated with an emotional cause. When I addressed the root cause, the pains healed.

3. Keep a a watch for hormonal imbalance

If any of my bodily functions are not working the right way, I can expect a headache. It helped me to undergo a complete health check-up and have my doctor let me know what my health concerns were so that I could address them and work towards eliminating the causes that were giving me a headache.

4. Note change in patterns

I know the headaches trigger when I have had less than the required sleep or have travelled a bit that has caused a jet lag or tiredness that does not allow me to sleep. There are various causes in this category that also include oversleeping! Yes, I get a headache even if I decide to sleep in for a longer time on a weekend. So I do make a note of all these things in my diary and eliminate all that gives me a headache.

More things we can do to combat these headaches:

• Make a balm: After a while I realised that the balms were not helping me a bit to reduce the headaches, so I switched over to an organic option. I made my own soothing headache relief balm. You can do it too, just follow the recipe here: http://pratsmusings.com/2014/03/08/make-your-own-soothing-headache-relief-balm/
• Exercise: A long walk, meditation or yoga. Anything that I like to do has often reduced the occurrence of the headache. Also, when I am doing something that I love, I am focusing my attention elsewhere.
• Indulge in a massage: There is nothing as relaxing as a head massage, so if you do have a headache indulge in one because that is one thing which provides me immense relief almost immediately. I add a drop or two of peppermint essential oil with oil that I am massaging with and it works wonders.
• Brew a cup of tea: Boil water with a few mint leaves. Let it cool for a while and sip it while it is still hot. It helps!

What is your favourite thing that you follow to get rid of that nagging headache?

Love elephant and want to go steady?

Sign up for our (curated) daily and weekly newsletters!

Editor: Travis May

Photo: Flickr