DR Fitness

Headaches.  They can hurt all over.  Your temples, your forehead, heck, even your eyeballs can all feel like there’s a vice squeezing your head.  And for the unfortunate, other symptoms like nausea, dizziness and sound/light sensitivity can really make a bad day worse.  Most of you just suffer, pop some pills, and hope it goes away.

But there is a lot you can do to prevent and treat those headaches besides just taking “Tension Headache” medication.  Here are 3 easy to follow tips that will help cure your headaches once they have already started.

1. The essential oil Peppermint or Menthol – This little known oil, and it’s active ingredient menthol, has been known for years to help treat headaches, and now there’s clinical evidence to back it up.  Just published this year in the Journal of Clinical Practice, Peppermint was found to help relieve headaches in a study that had 118 participants.  When given menthol during the headache attack,  participants reported less pain after two hours, as well as a decrease in other symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and light/sound sensitivity.

Treatment is really easy.  Simply apply the peppermint or menthol to the temples and the back of the neck after cleaning the area with tap water.

How much do you use?  With oils, a little goes a long way, so just a drop at each site.  

This is a simple and very cheap alternative to aspirin and it smells good too!

2. Massage those tight muscles – Most people assume that if your head hurts, rub your head.  But I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  Here it is…when muscles experience pain, they do something with it that is quite odd.  They “refer” the pain to somewhere else.  Let me explain.

Most of you are probably familiar with the stories of people having a heart attack complaining of pain running down their arms and into their backs.  Even though it’s the heart that’s having the problem, the pain is “referred” to  and experienced in these areas.  While the heart is made up of a different kind of muscle than the ones that you try and show off, it’s still a muscle.

Well, your muscles do the same thing.  So when you’re experiencing a “tension headache,” what you’re really feeling is the “referred” pain from muscles that are actually far from the place you’re feeling the pain.

A classic example of this is when you’re feeling your headache in your “temples,” the area on the side of your head, just behind the eyes.  You can rub your temples all day long and it still won’t take care of that headache.  Why?  Because the source of that headache is usually coming from the trapezius muscle, which is located between your neck and your shoulders.  Massage this muscle and give it some TLC for a few minutes.  Massage the area as best you can by pinching, squeezing and pressing, trying to find the spot that gives you the most relief.

Each different area of your head that hurts is probably pain being referred by a different muscle.  If you’d like to know more about this topic, or would like professional help to treat your tension headaches, contact me.

3. Now let’s stretch those tight muscles – After a good massage, you’ve got to stretch those muscles out.  In fact, stretching is almost as good as massage in the treatment of headaches.

Stretch your neck and shoulder muscles on all four sides (front, back, and both sides) to get the most relief.

To stretch the muscles on the front of your neck, slowly and gently tilt your head back and look up at the sky.  To create a little more stretch, gently push on the bottom of your chin as if to help you look even higher.

Next, to stretch the muscle on the back of your neck, drop your chin to your chest and lightly pull your head down further by resting your hands on the back of your head.  Don’t pull too hard as this can make things worse.  Simply let the weight of your hands do the work.

Now, to stretch the side of your neck, tilt your head sideways, ear to shoulder, without lifting the shoulder on the opposite side.  Also try to avoid lifting the shoulder to the ear.  Don’t forget to stretch both sides.

Hold these stretches for about 30-60 seconds and do each stretch 3-4 times.  Try not to strain to stretch because that, well, kind of defeats the goal of relaxation.

So there you go.  While there are many things that can help treat an active headache, these 3 tips are the most effective, cheap, and easy for you to implement.

Let me know how you feel after you use these techniques.  Hope you feel better!

Next time, I’ll let you know about the top 3 tips on how to prevent those nasty headaches from showing up in the first place.

DR Fitness – “Get Your Fitness On!”

Disclaimer—> First, see your doctor if you’re not sure of the origin of your headaches.  These techniques are intended to be used if you’ve been diagnosed with tension/muscular headaches.

Popularity: 100% [?]

If you’ve ever tried counting sheep (or any farm animal for that fact) to fall asleep, you’re not alone.  There are over 40 million Americans with some kind of sleeping disorder.  And we can all agree that nothing is worse than looking at your clock every 15 minutes and realizing, “It’s only been 15 minutes?” “And what number was I on?”

Why does sleep elude us so often?  For most, it’s stress.  That nagging, persistent, never-ending stress that follows you everywhere, even into your bed (bow-chicky-bow-wow!)  You know, the kind of stress that’ll make even the strongest man curl up into a ball with his thumb in his mouth all night long.  No sleepy, no happy.

Our 24 hour lifestyles has got our brains stuck in overdrive all day long and it won’t stop, even when we’re sleeping.  We’re on sensory overload and it shows.  Insomnia is now the new normal and Fight Clubs are forming all around the country.  Zoloft, Ambien and Lunesta are the modern day Three Amigos and everybody’s friends.  A whole generation of people strung out on sleeping pills because they  have yet to implement one of their inalienable rights – choice.

Many people have simply given up on the idea that they have choice.  They allow themselves to become involved in “checkout line news.”  Does anybody still care (or have they ever really?) about what Brittany Spears is up to these days?  Or  about how many celebrities got fat, then skinny, then fat again, and finally got skinny again?  This kind of trash really does accumulate in your mind, and if you act like you care, it starts to affect your emotions and you get sucked in, caring about a whole new stress all while waiting to pay for your groceries.  Just pay for your food and get the hell out of there!

The news is another stressful thing that we tend to obsess about.  “Hmm…what’s going on in the world today?”  Pretty much the same thing as yesterday…and the day before that.  Some good stuff, which is buried somewhere on page 7 of section G where you’ll never find it,  and some bad stuff, well, pretty much everywhere else.  No doubt looking at that kind of negativity everyday will make you a basket care really fast!  All for what?  So that you can be the life of the party when the discussion shifts to world events (which, by the way, rarely happens)?  Or just in case Jeopardy comes a knockin’ on yer door?  “I’ll take ‘I don’t give a crap’ for $400, Alex.’” There is really no reason the carry the weight of the worlds problems on your mind everyday, because that’s the kind of stress that’ll  definitely keep you from dreamland.

As we look for a way out of this sleepless lifestyle, prescription and over the counter drugs are leading the way towards the promise land, I mean, dream land.  The allure of sleep has tens of millions of people emptying their pockets for pills that will have them addicted in no time!  Well, it ’s time to put the Three Amigos down and look for 3 new buddies.

Contrary to popular belief, there actually are some natural supplements that can help you get a good nights sleep without pumping yourself up with harsh, addictive chemicals.  Let’s take a look at my 3 favorite natural sleep aides.

1. Your first new buddy is the supplement ZMA.  It’s a combination of the minerals zinc and magnesium which are minerals that are frequently depleted due to our stressful lifestyles.  The first time I took this supplement I think I only counted like 7 or 8 sheep…I felt great the next morning! Nothing beats going to bed and waking up refreshed, feeling like you actually slept. And not only is this supplement effective, it’s also pretty cheap.

2.  Your other new friend is Valerian Root.  This non-addictive herb has sedative  properties and has been used to treat sleep disorders for centuries.  It’s been known to decrease  anxiety and nighttime awakenings, improve  the quality of your sleep, all without the common side effects of common sleeping aides.

This supplement actually has several ways  that you can apply it.  You can take Valerian Root either in a capsule, as a tea, or by soaking in a tub with essential oil extract.  If you have the time, the tub is the way to go since you also get the relaxing benefits of the warm water.  Just be careful not to fall asleep in the tub!

3.  The last of your new friends has actually been a friend of yours (probably) for years, you just usually forget about him.  When was the last time you two hung out?  Probably on Thanksgiving.  Remember now?  Thats right, tryptophan!  You’re ol’ buddy misses you.  Did you forget about all those great times you had together?  Turkey filled bellies and unbuckled belts.  What memories.  Well, it’s time to get reacquainted!

This naturally occurring amino acid will undergo  some chemical alterations and end up as Melatonin, another common sleep aide with a long history of treating sleeping problems itself.  As well, one of the most common side effects of tryptophan is also one of it’s most beneficial for those of you having a hard time to sleep – drowsiness.  Go figure, you’re actually taking something for it’s side-effects.

I know, it’s hard to make new friends.  But you don’t want to hang out with friends that aren’t good for you and don’t play fair.   And that’s just what prescription and over the counter sleep aides are – addictive and unhealthy.  While these supplements will take several weeks to reach their full strength, they’re definitely worth the wait.

Mandatory disclaimer here –> As with all medications and supplements, check with your doctor before you take them and always follow the recommended doses.  Take care, and good night…

DR Fitness – “Get Your Fitness On!”

Popularity: 82% [?]

“The Sports Injury Prevention Inner Circle goes Primetime” Click on the link below to listen to my interview and my Top Ten Tips to prevent sports injuries. Make sure to visit http://www.preventsportsinjury.com and sign up for this incredible program.

http://www.audioacrobat.com/play/W9SbSYgQ

It’s a pretty long interview…about 90 minutes long.  But you know me, when I start talking, it’s hard for me to stop!

DR Fitness – “Get Your Fitness On!”

Popularity: 24% [?]