If you have suffered from a headache of any kind, you know how frustrating it can be to find relief. In the moment, with your head pounding, it can be difficult to think clearly enough to do anything other than trudge through your day just “living” with the pain. While there are tons (over 150 types!) of headaches, and just as many suggestions for how to relieve them, each person is different. It may take several attempts to find the right method of relief for your own brand of headache, so it is best to learn about as many headache-relief tips as you can and try them out until you find the sweet spot.

Know the main differences between the most common types of headaches is a great place to start. Determining where your pain is coming from will play a huge factor in soothing it.

There are a ton of great resources for understanding headaches and learning how to deal with them. This article will walk you through the 3 most common types of headaches, as well as some tips on how to soothe them. 

Tension Headaches

Also known as a ‘stress headache’ is best described as a dull but persistent ache (not throbbing). This type of headache can be accompanied by tenderness or sensitivity around the neck, shoulders, forehead or scalp. 

Soothing a Tension Headache: While over the counter pain relievers are the most common soothing technique, when the headaches become chronic (happen often) it is best to hunt down the cause for stress in attempts to mentally soothe the physical pain. Non-medicated options are also helpful and include meditation, soothing music, gentle-pressure massage, or stress-relieving essential oils and teas such as lavender or chamomile.

Migraine Headaches

A pulsing pain deep within the head and behind the eyes, often one-sided. These headaches can be accompanied by nausea and dizziness and can cause an increased sensitivity to light and sound.

Soothing a Migraine Headache: Because these headaches are often caused by environmental factors, preventative techniques are of major importance. Eating a proper amount of food, staying hydrated, and getting a good night’s sleep are all pivotal steps to preventing migraine headaches. There are of course Over the Counter remedies as well as Prescription medications that can assist in the symptoms, but the most effective medications are the preventative ones that are given to improve quality of life and productivity.

Cluster Headaches

These headaches pop up in a series, lasting either minutes or hours, and happening several times a day for multiple days in a row. After the “cluster” of weeks or months of daily aches, you may go several months with no headaches at all and feel perfectly find, that period is referred to as “remission”. Severe burning and sharp pain around or behind the eye combined with redness, sweating and nasal congestion are all symptoms of these daily clusters of headaches.

Soothing cluster headaches: Oxygen therapy and local anesthetics such as Lidocaine are the most commonly recommended solutions. Preventative measures are usually the course of action a doctor will take with you to increase the amount of time between clusters. Melatonin and calcium channel blockers may help put the cluster headaches into remission.

Sometimes just incorporating a quick relaxation practice into your daily routine is all it takes to rid of some headaches. After all, stress is probably one of the biggest contributors to all types of headaches and ailments. But if you are getting headaches for more than half of the month and have not yet seen a doctor it is best to seek medical treatment. And yes, even if you can ease the pain on your own, chronic headaches could be a sign of an underlying medical condition and should be checked out by medical professionals.