Medicine: Ways to Alleviate A Headache

Medicine > Ways to Alleviate A Headache

If you are prone to headaches and find yourself reaching for the aspirin

For starters, aspirin is not always the best medicine for the lining in your stomach, and indeed, some people have found that they are quite sensitive to the chemical components of aspirin and have a hard time taking it due to the fact that the medicine itself can cause more problems then it cures. One other medicine you may wish to consider is ibuprofen, which is available in the prescription brand Motrin™ as well as in the over the counter medicine Advil™. Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory analgesic (an analgesic is a medicine that alleviates pain without causing unconsciousness). Many headaches are caused by inflamed blood vessels in the head causing pressure on the sinuses and other areas around the skull (keep in mind this is true of many headaches, but not all headaches), and anti-inflammatory medicine is often the perfect solution to this type of pain because it is medicine that goes right to the source of the pain rather than trying to cover it up.

Besides using medicine, there are other ways to alleviate the pain associated with headaches, as well as stopping the cause of the headache itself. One excellent medicine-free suggestion for many sinus headaches (and indeed many headaches that are localized to the front of the cranium and caused by inflamed blood vessels near the surface of the skin) is to take a washcloth, soak it in hot water, and apply the steaming hot washcloth to the front of the face draped over the sinus cavity. The warmth causes the blood vessels in this area to expand, resulting in nearly immediate relief of headache symptoms without the need for medicine.

Regardless of what type of headaches you find yourself suffering from there are many ways that you can make the pain of frequent or occasional headaches easier to deal with without the need for harsh painkilling medicine.