Ahead of the ache: How to deal with migraine issues, increased stress

It’s hard to sit indoors, not to travel, to work from home, to keep the stress in mind and then everything starts affecting us internally.
Representational Image. (File Photo)
Representational Image. (File Photo)

It’s hard to sit indoors, not to travel, to work from home, to keep the stress in mind and then everything starts affecting us internally.

With the lockdown increasing week on week, it’s getting really difficult to keep the mind calm and also to focus on our day to day activity.

With increased stress, many people have started experiencing regular headaches or migraine issues.

A migraine can be a throbbing, severe and agonising headache which causes massive pain, usually on only one side of the top of the head which may last for hours or maybe days.

Stress is the major contributing factor right now which is affecting our emotional and mental health leading to migraines and other health issues, and it’s high time we now have to look at lifestyle modifications which can lessen the impact of stress in our body.

However, certain things are relatively easy to try out for controlling stress as well as migraines:

  • Deep breathing: Stress or anxiety can make us breathe shallow and rapidly, which puts us in the flight or fright mode that is the sympathetic nervous system. All our body function goes haywire and we can’t even digest our food well in this mode. That’s why it’s important to fill in oxygen in our body because oxygen helps in suppressing the cortisol levels or stress hormone, plus it also activates the parasympathetic nervous system which keeps you in rest and relaxation mode, that also works on calming the mind and controls headaches.

  • Sleep: Disturbed sleep due to stress highly affects our mind and entire body. Our body undergoes a proper healing, repair, recovery and detoxification cycle only when we are sleeping. If sheep is disturbed or broken then it can increase the headaches or migraine attacks for the next day. Maintain a regular sleep pattern and improve melatonin production naturally in the body by avoiding light emitting gadgets atleast one to two hours before bedtime.

  • Activity: Proper blood circulation and movement is important to keep the body going and to allow each and every organ to function well. After an exercise or workout, our body releases feel good hormones called endorphins which also act as a natural painkiller thereby reducing the stress, headaches or migraines. One can even look for certain yoga postures which are extremely beneficial for migraines like a bow pose (dhanurasan), spinal twist (matsyendrassana), tree pose and standing on toes.

  • Water: Inadequate water intake can cause dehydration, make the body sluggish and hold more toxins which may trigger migraine attacks. The sluggish blood supply due to lack of water leads to poor supply of nutrients and oxygen to brain cells, which may trigger a bad headache or migraine. Stay well hydrated and drink around 2.5-3 litres of water along side other healthy alkalising fluids to keep the body moving.

  • Essential oils: Massaging your temples gently with tulsi, peppermint or eucalyptus oil and deep breathing simultaneously works really well in managing the headache. Essential oils are thought to deviate the perception of pain, plus the aroma encourages relaxation and calms our senses.

DEEPIKA RATHOD

Chief Nutrition Officer, Luke Coutinho Holistic Healing Systems. The writer is a clinical nutritionist with a focus on healthy lifestyle choices.

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