In a typical session, acupuncture therapists will focus on increasing circulation in the lower body, minimizing the risk of increasing dilation of the blood vessels in the head, which may worsen a migraine or tension-type headache. While the number and frequency of treatments will vary from patient to patient, for chronic headache sufferers, weekly treatments over a period of months may be recommended to ease headache pain and minimize headache onset. The bonus? Acupuncture has been found to be effective in treating a wide number of ailments, and your acupuncture therapist will be able to apply the benefits of your session to treat multiple ailments if they exist.

Heat and Cold

For some headache sufferers, including pregnant women, even over-the-counter painkillers are not a safe option. Using the heat and cold method to treat headaches is a safe, risk-free alternative. This method involves applying heat to the back of the neck and icing the temples. For neck tension, just the heat may be sufficient to ease headache pain or for pulsing headaches, icing temples alone may be enough. For many, applying heat or cold to the forehead, temples or back of the neck can offer natural headache relief, depending on the type of headache you’re experiencing.

Migraine sufferers benefit from icing temples or the forehead, for example. This method is effective because the artery that supplies blood to the lining of the brain sits behind a thin bone in the temple. For migraine sufferers, lowering the temperature of the blood passing through that area seems to ease the throbbing pain associated with migraines. For those suffering a sinus headache, applying a heated towel to the forehead or over the eyes has been shown to be effective.

Caffeine

Your morning cup o’ joe is a powerful beverage. It pulls you out of your morning fog, boosts your mental alertness and helps keep you going throughout the day. It may also help control your headaches when consumed in controlled amounts. Because caffeine constricts the blood vessels, it can help curb headache pain at the onset of these events.

Further, caffeine can help your body better absorb your migraine or headache medication through your stomach lining. Studies show that simply adding about 130 mg of caffeine to the formulation for an over-the-counter pain medication can improve headache relieve by about 40 percent. However, before you rush to brew a pot of coffee when you feel a headache coming on, remember that caffeine can trigger headaches in some people, and for regular coffee drinkers, one of the symptoms of withdrawal (when you skip your morning mocha) is a headache. Experts suggest limiting coffee intake to five (8-ounce) cups a day or fewer.