Migraines are the worst! You can go through your day totally fine and then all of a sudden you are in brutal pain and feel like it’s never going to end.
In addition to intense pain on one or both sides of your head, migraines are also known to cause nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, as well as sensitivity to light, sound and even certain smells.
Here are some ways for you to help prevent or fight your next migraine.
Control Your Environment to Stop Migraines
Your environment, whether it’s your workplace or home, can be a major factor in giving you migraines.
Here are a few ways to help improve the places where you spend your time. (1)
1. Darken Up the Place
Some people get migraines due to a form of light sensitivity known as photophobia. If that’s the case for you, try dimming the lights, turning them off, or closing the shades to limit the sun from getting in. If you are in an office or a place where you cannot control the lights, consider wearing sunglasses. (1)
2. Avoid Certain Smells
Some people can be triggered by certain scents like a bold cologne or perfume. If that’s the case with you, try to neutralize the smell with a big whiff of coffee or peppermint. (1)
3. Aromatherapy
Along with avoiding scents, sometimes it helps to introduce certain aromas into your life. One way to do this is by using an essential oil diffuser to help fill the room with pleasant aromas, like lavender to reduce anxiety or peppermint to help make pain less noticeable. You can also use essential oils as a topical on your temples or wrists for a similar effect. (1)
4. Eliminate Sounds
Sometimes places are just too loud, making it impossible for you to hear your own thoughts. Try to go somewhere quiet. If you can’t, consider putting in earplugs or headphones to drown out what’s going on around you. Since certain noises can trigger migraines, avoiding these noises from the get go will make you better off. (1)
5. Warm Yourself Up
Sometimes taking a nice, long bath, shower, or sauna will be just enough to loosen up your muscles and ease away the pain. If you don’t have time for any of those, you may consider a warm compress on your forehead or using a heating pad. (1)
6. Cool Yourself Off
You can also go in the other direction and cool yourself off with an ice pack or even a dip in a cold pool! Studies show that putting something cold around your neck may help reduce migraine pains. This may be because cooling your blood can reduce swelling and pain. (1)
Stress Management for Migraine Relief
Stress has been known to trigger migraines. Try to stay calm by finding time to relax. Take time in the day to read, take a nap, or go for a nice walk. Just find time every day to yourself where you can collect yourself and stay calm.
And on that note, here are some ways to help reduce stress as you go about your day. (1)
7. Have a Routine
Having a set routine throughout the day can help you minimize the migraines you get on a regular basis. Waking up and going to bed every day at the same time along with regularly exercising and eating properly will help your internal clock know what’s coming next. This should help your body fight off potential migraines. (1)
8. Less Screen Time
We all spend way too much time looking at screens and that certainly doesn’t help when dealing with migraines. The blue light from screens is known to be real tough on migraine pain. Find time each day to not be looking at screens. However, if your job requires that you do so, you may want to consider rose colored glasses to help neutralize the blue light. But, also, be sure to walk away from time to time; no one is forcing you to constantly look at screens for hours on end. (1)
9. Breathing Exercises
Focus on how you breathe in and out for at least 10 minutes. This can help calm the blood and oxygen flow through your body, reducing your stress and pain as you do so. If you do this while targeting certain muscles where you are noticing pain, you should help be able to reduce the migraine. (1)
Physical Activity Can Help Beat Migraines
Here are some various exercises that you can perform to help reduce migraine pain.
10. Exercise
Sometimes some good old fashioned exercise will do the trick. Nothing major like weight lifting or hardcore cardio, but going for a nice walk or performing some stretching exercises will help ease the pain brought on by migraines.
11. Have Sex
Yes, having sex – specifically reaching an orgasm has been proven to be a good way to avoid migraine pains. The endorphins released during sex have shown to help the most here. If you don’t have a partner, you may want to consider self-pleasuring as well. (1)
12. Foot Rolls
If you aren’t looking to have sex, because you’re at work or it’s just not the right time, you may want to consider doing a few foot rolls with a tennis ball or another object. Simply putting your bare or sock covered foot over a tennis ball and rolling it around can help ease tension throughout your body all the way up to your brain. If you have certain parts of either foot that are especially tense, just focus on rolling the ball on that area. (1)
13. Hand Pinching
This one may sound strange, but if you pinch the fleshy part between your thumb and index finger, it can help reduce tension. Feel around that area till you notice the most tension, and focus on that area. Some believe this is effective as it gives you control over your own pain. (1)
Other Remedies
These are also some options that you can ingest to help you reduce stress and migraine pain.
14. Soothe Your Stomach
Some people get nauseous while suffering migraines. If you are one of those people, you should find a means to ease the nausea. Some things that help include peppermint tea or dry saltines. (1)
Conclusion
Having a migraine is far from fun. To save yourself from the debilitating pain, try beating a migraine before it starts or treating it right away with one or more of the 14 ideas listed above, such as avoiding certain smells, breathing exercises, or having sex.
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