Causes & Treatments For Tension Headaches

Tension Headaches

Everyone can agree that headaches are awful. There are a number of different types of headaches, and tension-type headaches are some of the most common. They feel like a gradual onset of steady pressure or a dull ache in your head, where the pain is usually bilateral, and can be debilitating. It can feel as though your head’s in a vice. Western medicine has taught us that our first line of therapy should be over the counter pain medication, like ibuprofen, and they do work! However, we should be asking ourselves, why am I experiencing these tension headaches, and what can I do to fix the underlying issue? Know there are safe, effective, natural treatments for tension headaches.

Causes

Before you can effectively treat your headache, you must uncover the triggers. Contributing factors include stress, depression, poor posture (slumped at your desk? Riding your motorcycle to work everyday at 60+mph?). Your face, neck and erector muscle that run all the way up your back and attach to your head start to tighten, in which they lock down and create a tension headache. While these are the most common causes of tension headaches, reactions to drugs or foods, magnesium deficiency, and low neurotransmitters are also common causes for tension headaches. Luckily, tension headaches can be improved with a number of natural therapies.

Physical Medicine

One of the most common and beneficial treatments is to invest in physical medicine to help relieve tension or postural problems that are causing the headaches. We suggest massages, physical therapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, and yoga as ways to improve body tension and posture. Finding a good physiotherapist that can retrain your body movements and postures to reduce postural triggers is a great place to start. The right registered massage therapist (RMT) can help loosen up and relieve tension in muscles. Foam rolling at home can also significantly loosen up fascia and muscles, relieving pain and tension. Everything is connected in your body: it’s important to consider a holistic approach.

Relaxation Techniques

Stress is one of the leading causes for tension headaches, and a great practice to help alleviate the pain is learning how to relax tight muscles. The first step is breathing into tension when you feel it coming up, and then focusing on relaxing those muscles. Getting up and moving around to get some fresh air or exercise can also help. Learning some relaxation techniques are effective, and can save you from the side effects of drugs.  It validates the mantra behind natural therapies: that rather seeking relief from a drug, there are ways to control the headache naturally. This is not to say that using over-the-counter medications are not effective – we simply urge those who suffer from headaches and other ailments to not become dependent on a drug to relieve their symptoms.

Nutritional Supplements

Another piece to consider is your diet and nutritional status. Some headaches can be caused by food sensitivities or allergies, low magnesium levels, low vitamin D and other vitamins. A study conducted on Italian students showed that “supplementation with 180 mg magnesium twice per day produced a symptom reduction of 87.5%, with 100% of the patients experiencing at least a 50% reduction in symptoms,” (Murray and Pizzorno 641). Supplements to consider include:

  1. Vitamin D 5000IUs daily
  2. Magnesium 300-400mg/daily
  3. Fish oil, 3gms daily of combined DHA/EPA
  4. Grape seed extract or pine bark extract

For more information on how to treat tension headaches or other ailments naturally, you can visit our website or give Wild Women Wellness a call at (650)-271-9453.  

 

Sources:

Murray, Michael T, and Joseph E Pizzorno. The Encyclopedia Of Natural Medicine. 3rd ed. New York: Atria Books, 2012. Print.

Hair Loss in Women: Top Causes and Treatments

Hair Loss

Did you know on average women lose between 50-100 hairs per day?  For women, hair loss, or alopecia, can occur and become a concern for those who don’t understand why it’s happening. There are two different types of hair loss, focal (small patches) or diffuse (all over). It’s extremely important for women, and men, to understand what their body is telling them, and what they can do to help restore their body balances.

  • Hormone Imbalances

Hormone imbalances in both women and men can cause hair loss. If you suffer from female-pattern hair loss, it’s more diffuse than characteristic male-pattern baldness. Factors that can contribute to hair loss are testosterone excess, insulin resistance, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and low antioxidant status. There are ways to put your body back in its natural orbit, such as improving blood sugar regulations with diet and lifestyle changes, increasing antioxidant intake, and considering a saw palmetto extract (Murray and Pizzorno 361).

  • Hypothyroidism

One of the most common signs of hypothyroidism is hair loss, this can include the outer edges of the eyebrows, and can be worsened by stress. Getting your thyroid back into balance is easy with the right help, and can restore your hair back to a healthy place.

  • Nutritional Deficiencies

A wide variety of nutritional deficiencies can be linked to hair loss. The most common ones are zinc, vitamin A, essential fatty acids, and iron. Low iron can cause anemia, fatigue, especially worse with your cycle, and hair loss. A simple blood test for ferritin and a CBC can tell you if you are anemic, and iron pills can help restore healthy levels.  “There is a very strong association between low body iron stores and diffuse hair loss in women,” (Murray and Pizzorno 632).  

  • Drugs and Medications

Certain types of drugs and medications can cause hair loss, be sure to check the list of side effects of all your medications if you suspect this may be the a factor.  Medications that have chemotherapy agents, such as fluorouracil, are a prime example of medications that are easily identifiable as the cause of hair loss. It’s extremely important to know the side effects, and how some of your medication may deplete other nutrients. If you are unsure, ask your doctor, and for a good online resource check out Mytavin.com. If you are on medications you can minimize side effects with proper supplementation, or even find safe effective alternative treatments. For more information find a Naturopathic

  • Celiac Disease

Celiac is a commonly missed and very problematic dis-ease in the body. It’s when the body can not absorb or tolerate gluten, an intolerance to gluten. The side effects can range from joint pain to fatigue, to hair loss to long standing digestive discomfort. Because individuals react differently to their gluten intolerance, they may not have apparent gastrointestinal symptoms. Hair loss is a common, less obvious symptom of Celiac disease. It is recommended that the test for human anti tissue transglutaminase antibodies (IgA anti-tTG) is done and in some cases a tissue biopsy of the small intestine is done.

At Wild Women Wellness, Dr. Tanya Escobedo specializes treating hormone imbalances, including thyroid, we do testing for iron, zinc and other nutritional deficiencies, CBCs, celiac testing, and many more tests. Dr. Escobedo is knowledgeable about prescription medications and safe natural alternative to help you choose the right therapy for you. If you are interested in learning more about Wild Women Wellness, you can visit our website or give us a call today at (650)-271-9453 to set up your appointment!

 

Sources:

Murray, Michael T, and Joseph E Pizzorno. The Encyclopedia Of Natural Medicine. 3rd ed. New York: Atria Books, 2012. Print.