By Familial Request: Headache Helpers

So if you know me well at all you know that I am prone to headaches.  I used to get migraines and I was being treated for them when suddenly a new, different kind of headache made its appearance the spring of my freshman year.

These headaches did not submit to migraine medication, nor to ibuprofen or other over the counter medications.  Quite frankly, these were the cockroaches of the headache world.

Why won't you DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?1?!?!?!?

I got these headaches for hours a day (sometimes 8 or more) and every day for around 50 days.  It was miserable.  To make sure that my life (and by life, I mean grades) didn't suffer I had to come up with several methods of making the headaches bearable.  I had to function, so here are some of my tricks:

Disclaimer: I am not a nurse/doctor/medical person.  These tricks work for ME and may not work for YOU.  They are tips and not prescriptions.

• Heat: You should set your house on fire. That'll do it. Justtttttttt Kidding*. I will put a heating pad across my forehead, or inside my pillowcase, depending on whether the pain is at the forefront of my head or leaning towards the back. (* NICK!)
• Hot Tea: For those of you that know me, you know I love my tea.  This is probably why.  I take a very hot cup of tea and take my time drinking it.  I don't use coffee or other hot beverages.  Tea has a nice balance of caffeine and health benefits.  You don't want to chug down the tea either, you should take the time to drink it slowly so that you don't jolt your system with caffeine but also because the feeling of the hot tea is distracting.  The longer you drag out drinking that mug the better.
• Candy/Mints: for those of you that aren't hot tea drinkers, I have a trick that I will often use during a class when I don't have tea or a heating pad handy.  A hard candy, such as a hard caramel, or a mint is a good tool for distraction.  Same basic concept as the tea.  The action required to consume the candy is drawn out over a long period of time.  The more flavorful the better.  The flavor is a distraction from the pain.  For this to work you can't be wallowing in your own pain; commenting mentally on how the pain is like nails being driven into your head.  I would say that's over-dramatic if I didn't have headaches that bad myself.  For this to work you really have to relish the flavor of the candy, and drag it out.  It's all about distraction.
• Go for a Walk:  But only if it's not friggen' cold out.  There's nothing that aggravates a headache more than walking out of a nice warm room into the cold air.  Or even worse than that, going back and forth repeatedly.  That being said, if it is of a desirable temperature, go for a walk.  While walking on a treadmill will eventually get your blood going and may help, you lose the actual distraction of going somewhere on a walk.  So if at all possible, grab a buddy* (but not one of those annoying talkative ones) and go for a scenic walk.  For those of you at Becker, the walk around the lake is great.  (*a dog is best really, not talkative at all...)
• Screw your Diet and Eat some Fatty Food: I'm serious.  It's delicious.  There's nothing like french fries to help kill a headache.  Nice, hot, bad-for-you food can sometimes bring your mood up enough to kill your pain.  You know that feeling of absolute ecstasy when you bite into, let's say...bacon cheesy fries?* That feeling will eclipse your headache if you let it.  But again, no dwelling on your pain. (*NICK knows)
• Take a long, hot Shower: again, heat.  But also, distraction.  Just don't shave your legs if you're feeling all dizzy.  Been there, done that.  I have the scars.
• Play with a Puppy:  ..........or a ferret, or a kitten (because adult cats won't work, sorry), or a guinea pig, or rats, or something furry with a pulse! (I wouldn't recommend that raccoon though, put it down.)  There's a whole bunch of science behind this.  Hormones get released when you pet an animal, especially one you have a strong bond with.  I'm not getting into the science.  I'm on vacation you know, and this isn't a graded paper.  I will just tell you that it works...for me...you know, the person with 4 beagles to play with at school...
• Be Productive:  I know this sounds impossible.  You're in PAIN dammit!  Believe me, I know.  But when you're in so much pain you can't look at the computer screen to write a paper, or you can't read the assigned chapters from the textbook, you CAN take the opportunity to get some laundry done, or  maybe reorganize your closet.  The things that fall by the wayside because of schoolwork can be addressed in this time.  Now, I know what you're thinking: "Why on EARTH would I want to do chores with my melon of a head in such pain? Is this girl crazy?!?!?!"  Well here's why.  When you get something done you feel good.  It removes stress.  And stress, my friend, is a very big factor in headaches.  You feel accomplished when you actually get to cross that off your to-do list.  So if you're looking for something to distract you, but it is literally painful to do schoolwork (more than usual, I mean), you could actually get something done.  It makes you feel less like the headache is beating you down, and more like you're beating the headache down.  Don't ask me how it works.  Some psychological crap right there.

Now I understand that sometimes the pain is so great you can't possibly think about doing anything.  Even playing with a puppy sounds like a death sentence and you wonder when your head is just going to shrivel and fall off your shoulders.

Believe me, I understand that.

Here's a trick I use for when I literally cannot do anything but sit in a dark room.  

I will lie down, in the most comfortable position possible.  For me, that's curled on my side.  For you that might be different.  Sometimes I will have a heating pad for my head, but other times I might have been in too much pain to go prepare it.  

When I lie down I address the pain in my head.  I categorize it (where is it, how bad is it, what's the quality) and I visualize it as residing in a certain part of myself.  For me, this makes it more tangible, so that I can mentally remove it from my thoughts.   

I then picture a scene.  For the purpose of explaining this to you, I'll use a lake in Georgia.  Narrow down what about that scene feels good, serene, or happy.  For me, it might be the sun on my shoulders with the perfect temperature water up to my collarbone.  

Then immerse yourself. Don't concentrate so hard the pain returns, but let your memory wash over you.  For me, I might feel a minnow nip at my toe and the water swish up my neck as a boat causes waves to flow into the cove.  Concentrate on the physical feelings the most, I find they are the easiest to create and need the most thought, so they overshadow your headache much better.

As you practice, and as you get deeper into the scene, you'll find that the details come back to you clearer.  I might get past the feeling of the water and feel the top of my head begin to burn as my hair dries from the roots down.  It's a full-picture fantasy, but it's not bogged down by details of the place that you might strain to remember.  It's all personal experience and feeling.  

Obviously for this to work it should be from an actual memory.  Fabricated feelings are going to be harder to come up with as well as weaker over your headache.  Also, you really do need to have a good imagination.  If you read books often, you'll probably have no problems at all using this method, as it requires the same type of immersion. 

I have many more tricks, but these are the main ones.  I hope that helps, oh-sister-of-mine.